Max Verstappen was quickest in qualifying at Spa but his grid penalty means Carlos Sainz Jnr will start from pole position for the Belgian Grand Prix.
The Red Bull driver’s best time of a 1’43.665 was easily fast enough for him to end Q3 quickest by six tenths of a second, but power unit penalty will demote him to 15th on the grid for the race. Sergio Perez will start alongside Sainz on the front row, with Fernando Alonso behind them in third.
Charles Leclerc will begin the race directly behind Verstappen in 16th position after he managed the fourth-fastest time in the final session of qualifying.
Q1
The start of the first session of qualifying was delayed due to an accident at Fagnes at the end of the Porsche Supercup qualifying session that left the barriers in need of repair. When the session eventually started 25 minutes late, a clear, dry track awaited drivers with air temperature at a cool 15C.
Nicholas Latifi was the first driver out on track, but he returned to the pit lane immediately. Lewis Hamilton was the first of the front-runners to set a time, setting a 1’46.703 which was easily beaten by his team mate. The Red Bulls and Ferraris also took to the track, with Max Verstappen instantly setting the fastest time of the weekend with a 1’44.581, half a second ahead of Carlos Sainz Jnr in and eight tenths quicker than team mate Sergio Perez.
The Red Bull pair and Sainz pitted after a single flying lap, while Charles Leclerc and the two Mercedes drivers remained out for a second hot lap. George Russell could only manage tenth, while Lewis Hamilton was 11th after their first run.
After a brief lull, cars began to venture out for a second run with four minutes remaining. The two Alfa Romeos of Zhou Guanyu and Valtteri Bottas were at the bottom of the times, with Mick Schumacher, Nicholas Latifi and Lance Stroll set to be eliminated from the session, while Yuki Tsunoda was the first driver at risk of being knocked into the drop zone. Both Mercedes headed back out onto the track, while Red Bull and Ferrari chose to keep their cars in the garage for the final minutes.
Latifi was the first across the line, moving up to 13th, with Stroll also going safe in 10th. Zhou improved, knocking Alexander Albon into the drop zone, while Latifi also fell back to 17th and out of the session. However Albon shot up to sixth place, splitting the Mercedes pair, securing his place in Q2. Kevin Magnussen and Sebastian Vettel therefore fell into danger as neither of them…
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