F1 Belgian GP: Verstappen secures pole in mixed conditions

Red Bull’s Max Verstappen returned to pole position in qualifying but the Dutchman is set to start the Belgian Grand Prix from sixth place, after a gearbox penalty.

Q1

In a better run of weather, compared to free practice 1, the sun began to peer out from the clouds and shine down onto the Belgian track, Spa-Francorchamps.

As such the Mercedes duo of George Russell and Lewis Hamilton waited at the pitlane exit in a bid to be the first drivers out on track, in case the weather conditions worsened over a single lap.

Naturally, Russell set the first time on the board but he was soon demoted to second as Hamilton put in a 2:02.2 lap time on the board. However, the seven-time world champion was soon overtaken by McLaren’s Lando Norris who went 0.4s faster.

As the McLarens and Mercedes drivers continued to leap-frog each other, it wasn’t long before the Red Bull dup began to knock on the door. Verstappen slipped into second with just over nine minutes left to go, in between Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz and McLaren’s Oscar Piastri who occupied first and third.

Verstappen and Albon were soon noted for impeding. Replays showed Verstappen had completed his prep lap and sped away on the final corner. At the same time, Williams’ Alexander Albon was on his way to mount the final kerb, at the final corner just as Verstappen bolted. No further action was deemed as the appropriate conclusion to the matter

The sun continued to shine down onto the circuit which meant the track began to evolve, and become quicker. As such, the drivers finally began to dip under the two-minute lap times.

Two and a half minutes remained and Hamilton topped the timing board with a 1:58.841 which stood nine-hundredths of a second faster than Verstapen and Piastri.

Haas’ Nico Hulkenberg remained in the pit lane, in the dying minutes of the first third of qualifying, but the German had to get a move on as he left the pit lane – he was sat in 20th. It was reported that the German driver had a mechanical problem with his hydraulics.

Despite his best efforts, Hulkenberg wasn’t able to reach the chequered flag in time and will start the race last.

Eliminated:

20. Nico Hulkenberg, Haas

19. Daniel Ricciardo, Alpha Tauri

18. Logan Sargeant, Williams

17. Guanyu Zhou, Alfa Romeo

16. Alexander Albon, Williams

Q2

In a similar manner to Q1, the Mercedes duo were ready and willing for Q2 to get underway as Hamilton headed the queue ahead of Russell. As the sun continued to bake the Belgian track, steam was seen pulsing from the circuit which meant runs on the dry slick tyres were on the horizon.

Piastri stated: ‘its not too far off the slicks,’ over his respective team radio as track conditions improved. Despite this, all of the drivers were out on the intermediate tyres.

Norris was the only driver who remained inside his garage during the early minutes of Q2.

With eight minutes left to go on the clock, the Red Bull duo of Verstappen and Perez were at the top of the timing boards, the former was the faster driver with a 1:55.535 lap.

One minute later, Alfa Romeo’s Valtteri Bottas was the first driver to gamble on the soft, dry, slick tyres. This quickly set off a chain reaction down the pit lane as a number of drivers peeled into the pit lane to swap over their used intermediates for the soft tyres.

Only Aston Martin, and their driver Lance Stroll, remained on the green-walled tyres. As the crossover point quickly approached, the Canadian popped into the pit lane and returned to the circuit on intermediate tyres. However, as the field changed over their tyres, it wasn’t long before the Aston Martin driver followed suit to put on his dry Pirelli boots.

Alpine’s Esteban Ocon was forced to quickly return to the pit lane in the last minutes of Q2. The Frenchman lost the rear-end into the left-hander of turn nine, Ocon was able to catch the oversteer but he overcorrected which sent him over the gravel and into the barrier.

Ocon was not able to return to the circuit before the chequered flag fell which meant the Frenchman was out of qualifying, and down in 15th. Surprisingly, Verstappen was just able to squeeze through as the Dutchman only managed to go 10th fastest overall as the last of the runners completed their final laps.

Eliminated:

15. Esteban Ocon, Alpine

14. Valtteri Bottas, Alfa Romeo

13. Kevin Magnussen, Haas

12. Pierre Gasly, Alpine

11. Yuki Tsunoda, Alpha Tauri

Q3

Unlike Q1 and Q2, no one waited at the pit exit for the light to turn green as the session opened up for the pole position shootout. Although no one was eager to get out, it wasn’t long before cars were out on track – led by the Aston Martin duo of Fernando Alonso and Stroll respectively.

Naturally, Alonso set the first lap time on the board. However, the Spaniard was quickly demoted down to third fastest as Piastri popped up to the top spot. The Australian’s time in the top spot, unsurprisingly, was short-lived as Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz occupied first and third respectively with Verstappen in second.

After their first timed laps, the field returned to the pit lane. On the other hand, the Mercedes duo put in a second timed lap on the board which placed them out of sync with everyone else. Hamilton and Russell soon pitted with three minutes left on the board, just as everyone else peeled back out onto the circuit.

The Mercedes drivers were quickly back out on track with the remainder of the field.

Stroll led the top 10 drivers as the first driver out on an out lap as Perez gathered up the rear, as the last man out of the pit lane with just over two minutes to go.

In his final timed run, Verstappen pulled a lap out of the bag to go onto pole position with a 1:46.168, 0.8 seconds faster than Leclerc who finished second. Perez rounded out the top three. Although Verstappen took pole position, the Dutchman is set to take a five-place grid penalty – for a gearbox change – and will start the race in sixth. This meant Leclerc will inherit pole positon on Sunday.

Top 10:

10. Lance Stroll, Aston Martin

9. Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin

8. George Russell, Mercedes

7. Lando Norris, McLaren

6. Oscar Piastri, McLaren

5. Carlos Sainz, Ferrari

4. Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes

3. Sergio Perez, Red Bull

2. Charles Leclerc, Ferrari

1. Max Verstappen, Red Bull

That’s all for the article; F1 Belgian GP: Verstappen secures pole in mixed conditions!

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