Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc will begin from pole place for the Belgian Grand Prix regardless of Max Verstappen having set the quickest time in qualifying on Friday. Double world champion Verstappen incurred a five-grid penalty for a change of gearbox on his Purple Bull demoting him to sixth for Sunday’s race. Verstappen’s teammate Sergio Perez will begin alongside Leclerc on the entrance row for the twelfth race of the Components One season. Verstappen, who leads the championship by 110 factors, gained at Spa-Francorchamps final yr from 14th on the grid. “Final yr we had a lot of penalties and I nonetheless gained the race in order that would be the goal once more,” mentioned the Belgian-born Dutch driver.
Leclerc, eight-tenths of a second slower than Verstappen, mentioned: “Not a foul qualifying for us, particularly in these situations.
“We went a bit too early for that final run however we might have been a bit nearer. Having mentioned that, we have now an amazing beginning place for Sunday and let’s have a look at the way it goes.”
Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton and Carlos Sainz within the different Ferrari occupy the second row.
McLaren’s Oscar Piastri and Verstappen come subsequent, with Lando Norris (McLaren), George Russell (Mercedes) and Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll within the Aston Martins rounding out the highest 10.
Saturday options the third dash race of the F1 season after Azerbaijan and Austria, with qualifying for the standalone race scheduled for Saturday morning on the majestic Ardennes circuit.
Verstappen’s penalty doesn’t apply to the dash.
The Purple Bull ace was fortunate to squeeze into the third qualifying session with a late lap to climb to tenth in Q2 and admitted he had battled the drying situations all through the session.
“It was very tight. The situations have been actually difficult and on my closing lap in Q2 I did not have that confidence to push, however in Q3 we had two tyre units so we had extra probability to push,” he reported.
Verstappen can be in search of to reel off his eighth consecutive win