© Getty ImagesMax Takes Pole At Soaking SpaBulls to start P1 and P7 for tomorrow’s Belgium Grand Prix after an action-packed Qualifying session.
MaxVerstappensenttheorangearmyatSpa-FrancorchampswildwithdelightbytakingabrilliantninthcareerpolepositionfortheBelgianGrandPrixaheadofsurprisefront-rowstarterGeorgeRussellofWilliamsandthird-placedMercedes’driverLewisHamilton.SergioPérezwillmeanwhilestartfromP7onthegrid.
Q1
After a short delay due to heavy rain in the run-up to Qualifying, Q1 got underway on a wet track and most teams sent their drivers out on full wet Pirelli tyres. The exception was Williams who sent Russell and Nicholas Latifi out on intermediate tyres.
Initially the times set on the two compounds were comparable but when Max took P1 with a time of 2:07.574 and was quickly beaten by Russell to the tune of five full seconds, it became clear that intermediates were the right choice and drivers flooded back to pits to switch to the green-banded tyres.
Max Qualifies On Pole At Spa-Francorchamps© Getty Images
With the conditions improving but rain forecast, the session then became one of endurance as drivers stayed out to try to catch the best of the conditions.
In the end it was Lando Norris who seized the opportunity. The McLaren driver crossed the line after the chequered flag to take top spot with a lap of 1:58.301. Max, meanwhile, eased through to Q2 in second place with a lap of 1:58.717. Checo also benefited late on and he went through to the second segment in fourth place thanks to a lap of 1:59.334.
Checo Maxing It Out During Qualifying© Getty Images
Alfa Romeo’s Antonio Giovinazzi was the first driver eliminated, in P16, and the Italian was followed out of the session by AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda, Haas’ Mick Schumacher, the second Alfa of Kimi Räikkönen and the second Haas of Nikita Mazepin.
Q2
Though rain was forecast for Q2, the track stayed dry and the remaining drivers took to the track on inters. That meant progress was relatively straightforward for the Bulls, with Max posting a lap of 1:56.559 to secure fifth place at the flag. Checo, meanwhile, went through in P7.
Watching Over Checo During Qualifying© Getty Images
Mercedes made heavy work of claiming Q3 berths, however. The team sent Hamilton and Bottas out on old intermediates, but neither driver could make them work and they abandoned their runs to pit for new green-banded tyres. Again, both struggled and a final set was called for.
Sitting 11th and 12th in the closing moments, Hamilton and Bottas needed big laps to jump to safety and both delivered with their final laps. Hamilton jumped to P2 with lap of 1:56.229 and Bottas erased any worries in the Mercedes camp by claiming P3 with a lap of 1:56.295.
The final moments weren’t as kind to Ferrari, however. Charles Leclerc was eliminated in P11 with teammate Carlos Sainz exiting in P13. The man in the Ferrari sandwich was Williams’ Latifi. Alpine’s Fernando Alonso was ruled out in P14 ahead of Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll.
Q3
The expected rain began to fall in the minutes leading up to the start of Q3 and by the time the lights went green conditions had substantially deteriorated. The risk became clear when Norris lost control of his McLaren at the start of his first push lap of the segment and crashed heavily at Raidillon. The red flags were immediately displayed.
A long delay followed and when the final eight minutes of the session got underway rain was still falling. The Bulls opted for intermediate tyres and after his first lap Max was in P2 but a second off provisional pole sitter Hamilton.
Max Flat Out In The Rain© Getty Images
The conditions were improving rapidly, however, as evidenced by Russell suddenly putting in purple sector times. The Williams driver’s timing was good and his final lap was strong enough to put him ahead of Lewis Hamilton by 0.013s.
Max’s timing was better, however, and when the Dutch driver crossed the line he was the only man to dip below the two-minute mark with a brilliant lap of 1:59.765. The pole is the Team’s first at Spa since 2011 and Max’s first at his ‘home’ circuit.
Behind the top three McLaren’s Daniel Ricciardo will start fourth ahead of Aston Martin’s Sebastian Vettel. Pierre Gasly qualified sixth and Checo secured seventh place on the grid.
Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas placed eighth but will take a five-place grid penalty tomorrow. Ninth place in the session was taken by Alpine's Esteban Ocon, with the unfortunate Norris classified tenth.
Best Of Qualification At Spa-Francorchamps
Watching A Exciting Qualification Session© Getty Images
Orange Army In Full Swing During Qualification© Getty Images
50th Race With Honda© Getty Images
Max And George Poised For Super Sunday© Getty Images
Slippery Conditions During Qualification© Getty Images
Fans Watch Intense Qualification© Getty Images
Max Pushing Hard During Qualification© Getty Images
Max Means Business In Quali© Getty Images
WhatWasSaid:
Max
I am very happy with pole position here at a home Grand Prix, but it was not easy out there
Max Verstappen“I am very happy with pole position here at a home Grand Prix, but it was not easy out there. It was very hard to nail a lap, I was just trying to find the right lines at the right times and judging how fast to go into corners after such a long red flag was tricky. It was so important to get the tyres up to temperature because that could give you a few seconds of lap time around a long track like this. Tomorrow we don’t know if it will be a dry or wet start, I think if it’s wet I don’t mind if I start first because at least I should have clear vision but I just hope that we have a good and clean start. I also hope that Lando is feeling okay and that he doesn’t have any serious injuries because that didn’t look like a good impact at all, he’s a good friend of mine so I hope he can race tomorrow.”
WhatWasSaid:
Checo
“I’m very disappointed with my qualifying as our car was performing well, there was plenty of pace in it and a much better position was possible today. With the changing weather conditions it was tough out there and so the final lap was going to be critical but unfortunately I wasn’t able to improve. It’s a shame but I’m still looking forward to tomorrow as with the weather anything can happen and so there’s plenty of opportunities. The Team is doing a strong job and provided we can stay out of trouble tomorrow then we should be in pretty good shape and able to fight for a strong result. I’m also pleased to see Lando was able to get out of the car after his accident and hope he’s okay. We discussed Eau Rouge in the drivers’ meeting on Friday and raised our concerns so I really hope to see some solutions for next year. It’s something that we definitely have to improve because in conditions like today, if we have a wet race tomorrow, it’s not a place where drivers want to have contact, especially considering it is a blind spot.”
WhatWasSaid:
ChristianHorner
It was a good session and a strong qualifying for us with our first pole position at Spa for 10 years
Christian Horner CBE “It was a good session and a strong qualifying for us with our first pole position at Spa for 10 years. Both drivers did a great job, Max’s ninth pole, seventh for Checo and on our 50th Grand Prix with Honda as well, so it was a fantastic performance on a very difficult day. Max has always been very strong in the wet, he made a mistake on his first lap but absolutely nailed his second lap, so it is now crucial that we convert this into good points tomorrow. It looks like the weather could be similar to today, but at least if it is wet we have some visibility by starting at the front and both drivers have managed to retain a set of inters. I think we are the only team in the top 10 to have managed that, so we have that up our sleeve. More importantly however it was a relief to see Lando walk away from his big accident at the beginning of Q3 and hopefully he is able to race tomorrow.”
BelgianGrandPrixQualifyingTop10
| Position | Driver | Team | Time | | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 |
| Max Verstappen | George Russell | Lewis Hamilton | Daniel Ricciardo | Sebastian Vettel | Pierre Gasly | Sergio Pérez | Valtteri Bottas | Esteban Ocon | Lando Norris |
| Red Bull Racing Honda | Williams | Mercedes | McLaren | Aston Martin | AlphaTauri | Red Bull Racing Honda | Mercedes | Alpine | McLaren |
| 1.59.765 | 2.00.086 | 2.00.099 | 2.00.864 | 2.01.164 | 2.01.164 | 2.01.112 | 2.02.502 | 2.03.513 | |
