Max Verstappen fastest but Charles Leclerc on pole at F1 Belgian GP
Charles Leclerc takes pole position for the Belgian Grand Prix despite Max Verstappen topping wet qualifying.
Max Verstappen topped a wet qualifying at the F1 Belgian Grand Prix but a grid penalty means Charles Leclerc will start from pole position.
For the second year running, Verstappen was the fastest driver in qualifying at Spa-Francorchamps, only for a penalty for an engine change moving Leclerc onto pole.
Red Bull’s reigning world champion was more than half a second quicker than Leclerc but he will start 11th after his 10-place grid drop is applied for exceeding his power unit allocation for this season.
"I definitely did not expect that this weekend. Obviously with the tricky conditions we could do something above our expectations," Leclerc said.
"So it's a good day for the team so now we need to focus on tomorrow and see what will happen when the rain is gone.
"Without this rain, probably P5 was the position we were fighting for with the Mercedes especially. But with the rain it helped us a little bit, but I'm not going to complain.
"I'm really happy, I'm really happy with the lap in Q3, and it's good to be back on the front part of the grid. Now we've got to finalise that tomorrow.
"It's not the easiest first place to keep on the first lap here, but honestly I will see. Every start is different and then once I will be in the car tomorrow through Eau Rouge I will see what the best thing is that I can do."
Sergio Perez narrowly missed out on what would have been his first pole of 2024, but the under-pressure Mexican will start alongside Leclerc on the front row for Sunday’s grand prix.
Lewis Hamilton will start third for Mercedes, having ended up 0.676s adrift of Verstappen. The seven-time world champion outpaced the McLaren duo of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri.
George Russell will line-up from sixth ahead of the second Ferrari of Carlos Sainz, Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso and Alpine’s Esteban Ocon
Williams driver Alex Albon missed out on a place in Q3 by just 0.003s but will start 10th, ahead of former Red Bull teammate Verstappen.
Pierre Gasly was frustrated to have failed to join his Alpine teammate in the top-10 shootout as he took 12th.
Daniel Ricciardo was 13th-fastest for RB, with Sauber’s Valtteri Bottas 14th and Lance Stroll, who had a big crash in final practice, only 15th quickest for Aston Martin.
The Haas pair of Nico Hulkenberg and Kevin Magnussen will line up from 16th and 17th, ahead of RB’s Yuki Tsunoda. Logan Sargeant could not join his Williams teammate in reaching Q2, while Zhou Guanyu was slowest of all for Sauber.
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