Belgian Grand Prix – Qualifying: The phenomena Norris and Russell!

As for FP3 this morning, the track is wet. In fact, the session is postponed by XX minutes. The safety car has completed many laps before 3:00 p.m. –

Q1: the rout at Alfa Romeo

As the whole pack sets off on wet tires, the two Williams drivers are trying their luck by starting on intermediate tires. The track is soaked, and it’s Latifi who makes the first mistake. Without any damage to his car, he ruins his first timed lap, as well as that of his teammate just behind him who has to slow down in that area under yellow flags.

In his second run, George Russell takes provisional pole position. He is five seconds faster than Max Verstappen. This is why all the other drivers quickly change their tires for the green ones. The drivers keep doing laps, which gradually dries the track, and lap times improve with each passing. Therefore, it is necessary to wait for each driver’s last lap to be certain of the hierarchy.

In the end, Norris, Verstappen, and Hamilton dominate the discussions, while Russell is impressive. The Williams seems to be capable of setting very good lap times in the rain.

Ricciardo seems to be struggling compared to his teammate who is at the top of the timesheets. Alonso and Ocon also do not reassure themselves by being the last ones able to move up to Q2.

The eliminated drivers are:

Giovinazzi, Tsunoda, Schumacher, Räikkönen and Mazepin.

Q2: Lando Norris solid leader.

This second phase of qualifications is going smoothly. The track is drying gradually and quickly Norris confirms in the lead, as well as Verstappen. The Mercedes and Alpine teams seem to be struggling.

At the halfway point, Bottas is in 11th place and currently eliminated. Worse, with 2 minutes to go, the two Mercedes are in the drop zone. Hamilton is 11th followed by Bottas in 12th place.

Vettel’s experience pays off. Like Norris, he is confident with his car and allows himself to have an aggressive driving style. He animates this Q2 and manages to secure the fifth time, then the third place. Finally, everything is turned upside down on the last lap. Norris confirms in the lead, ahead of Hamilton who finally sets a fast time, as well as Bottas in 3rd. Pierre Gasly impresses with his 4th place ahead of Verstappen who had not returned.

Huge disappointment in the Ferrari team Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz fail to get through to Q3. Esteban Ocon narrowly qualifies in 10th place.

The eliminated drivers are:

Leclerc, Latifi, Sainz, Alonso, and Stroll.

Q3: The next generation is knocking at the door, Russell confirms!

For Q3, the rain intensifies. Norris is the first to go out, this time on blue tires, the full wet ones. At Mercedes, it’s panic, the tires are changed even though the session has already started. Apparently, they were expecting the start of Q3 to be delayed and were hoping to switch to intermediate tires.

Sebastian Vettel implores the race direction to stop the session with a red flag. At the same time, there is shock on the track. Lando Norris loses control of his car in Eau Rouge. His McLaren is demolished. He is seen spinning multiple times before rejoining the track. After a long moment of waiting, during which Sebastian Vettel stops by his side to check on the driver’s condition, the dazed Norris gets out of his car to head to the medical vehicle. Therefore, the session is stopped. It will only resume at 4:45 pm.

For this restart, nine minutes remain for nine drivers to secure pole position. Red Bull are taking the risk of starting on intermediate tires despite a significant amount of water on various parts of the track. They are immediately followed by Mercedes and the others.

Russell and Ocon choose to only do one flying lap. But what a lap! The British driver briefly takes pole position ahead of Lewis Hamilton before being overtaken by Max Verstappen.

Daniel Ricciardo completes a final fast lap which allows him to qualify fourth.

The disappointment comes from Valtteri Bottas, who is less comfortable than his teammate. He finishes in eighth place. This should clarify things for the leaders at Mercedes.

Qualification ranking

Here is the table while waiting for the accompanying chronos.