Max Verstappen dominated qualifying on a drying track for the Belgian Grand Prix but will cede pole position to Charles Leclerc thanks to a gearbox penalty.
Despite a Q2 scare that saw him barely scrape through to the pole shootout in 10th, Verstappen mastered the slicks-on-damp conditions of Q3 to take top spot by an imperious 0.82s. But the Dutchman must serve a five-place grid penalty for unsealing his fifth set of gearbox components, one more than allowed for the season, which will drop him to sixth on the grid and promote Leclerc to pole on Sunday.
“Last year I had more penalties and we could still with the race,” Verstappen said, recalling his drive from 13th to victory. “That’s still the target on Sunday.”
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Verstappen’s Sunday hopes were boosted by a generally strong feeling in the car on his way to the fastest time.
“It was all about just feeling confident and risking everything in that final run to get more lap time,” he said. “We know that the car is quick, and even in these tricky conditions today, luckily we could show that again.”
Leclerc said he was pleased with his performance despite the margin, but he stopped short of making any predictions for the race.
“Not a bad qualifying for us,” he said. “Especially in those conditions it’s always tricky to put everything together. I’ve put a lot of work into those conditions because I wasn’t so comfortable a few race ago, and it’s paid off.
“We have a great starting position for Sunday, and let’s see how it goes.”
Sergio Perez was 0.877s slower than his session-topping teammate and will be promoted to the front row alongside Leclerc.
“It was a very tricky qualifying out there,” he said. “But it’s a good result. It’s a bit of a shame I didn’t get Charles there, but I think in these conditions he was good.”
Lewis Hamilton, Carlos Sainz and Oscar Piastri will move up to third, fourth and fifth respectively, dropping Verstappen into sixth ahead of Lando Norris.
Norris was well covered by teammate Piastri after the Briton slid off the road in still-wet conditions in Q3, where a trip through the stones caused some suspected damage to his front wing and floor. George Russell was similarly bested by teammate Hamilton, albeit by a more significant 0.756s.
Aston Martin teammates Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll completed the top five, Alonso 1.6s off the pace and Stroll a further full second adrift.
Yuki Tsunoda was knocked out of the wet-dry Q2 in 11th ahead of Pierre Gasly and Kevin Magnussen.
Valtteri Bottas was among the first drivers to spy the opportunity to switch from intermediates to slicks, but it wasn’t enough to save him from 14th on the grid.
Esteban Ocon ended Q2 in his garage with a broken front wing after sliding off the track, through the stones and into the wall at Turn 9 without enough time to rejoin the track following repairs.
Alex Albon will start 16th after a fully wet Q1 that required use of the intermediate tire, beating Zhou Guanyu and American rookie Logan Sargeant, who joined the session late following a precautionary gearbox change after crashing out of FP1.
Daniel Ricciardo will start the grand prix 19th after having his fastest lap deleted for cutting the apex over the top of Raidillon. The Australian’s time had been good enough to put him 10th in the session, directly behind teammate Tsunoda.
Haas driver Nico Hulkenberg failed to set a time thanks to a hydraulics issue that delayed his exit from the pit lane until it was too late to complete an out-lap.
