Belgian Grand Prix – Qualifications: Max Verstappen is the fastest, but Charles Leclerc will start on pole position on Sunday

Belgium is a sprint race weekend. The drivers completed their qualifying sessions for Sunday’s race on Friday. Max Verstappen set the fastest time but will start from 6th place on Sunday.

The Q1 ends Nico Hülkenberg’s good run

Even though the rain had stopped after the Formula 2 qualifying session, the drivers had to face an extremely wet track. All the drivers started on intermediate tires to set the first qualifying time of the day. Only Logan Sargeant waited half the session to go out and set his time. This strategy did not pay off for the Williams driver, who finished in 18th place. Throughout the session, the track kept improving. It wasn’t until the final seconds that the five drivers who were eliminated were known. Nico Hülkenberg, who had been performing well in qualifying sessions so far, will start at the back of the grid on Sunday. He will be preceded by Daniel Ricciardo, Logan Sargeant, Guanyu Zhou, and Alexander Albon.

A Q2 that caught the Alpines off guard

The 15 fastest drivers set off for Q2. All the drivers completed their first laps on intermediate tires. It was with only 7 minutes left in the qualifying session that the drivers decided to switch to slick tires, without treads, in order to secure one of the top ten spots in Q2, which would guarantee them a place in Q3.

The first runs on soft tires were complicated and almost caught out several drivers. Esteban Ocon got caught out on his first timed lap on the smooth compound. The Frenchman hit the barrier in turn 11, breaking his front wing and forcing him to return to the pits, which cost him his chance to make it to Q3.

The Alpine driver was not the only one to hit in this turn. Kevin Magnussen’s Haas also hit, but without consequences for the Danish driver. In the red tire (compound), we also had to wait until the last moments to know the drivers who participated in Q3. Max Verstappen surprised everyone by qualifying only four tenths behind Yuki Tsunoda.

A boss-like Q3 for Max Verstappen

Q3 was done entirely on slick tires. The final phase was delayed to clean the track from the gravel left by Esteban Ocon and Kevin Magnussen. From the first timed lap of each driver, they all took the Eau Rouge corner at full throttle. Some corners in sector two were still wet, but all drivers managed to set decent lap times.

During the first qualifying laps, it was the Ferraris that led the way. Charles Leclerc thought he had secured the pole position until the very last lap. Max Verstappen settled the debate by finishing 8 tenths behind the Monegasque driver. Despite this pole position achieved by the double world champion, the Dutchman will start from 6th place for Sunday’s race due to a gearbox change.

The results of the qualifiers