Carlos Sainz Jr took pole for the Belgian Grand Prix. The Ferrari driver did not set the fastest lap, which was firmly sealed by Red Bull’s Max Verstappen. However with he and title rival Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc taking grid penalties the Spaniard claimed the top spot. Red Bull’s Sergio Pérez was third and will start second, while Alpine’s Fernando Alonso moves up from sixth to third.
Setting the grid at Spa-Francorchamps was a complex and unwieldy process given that a full seven drivers had grid penalties. McLaren’s Lando Norris, Alfa Romeo’s Guanyu Zhou, Alpine’s Esteban Ocon and Mick Schumacher of Haas also all have the same penalties as Verstappen and Leclerc, moving them to the back of the grid for taking new components power unit components beyond their allocation.
Championship leader Verstappen was the class of the field in an ominously quick Red Bull, repeatedly setting the quickest times and ultimately finishing with a lap that was six-tenths clear of Sainz, while Leclerc could manage only fourth.
Verstappen will start from 15th and Leclerc in 16th. The two Mercedes could do little to challenge and were a country mile off the real pace with Hamilton 1.8seconds down on Verstappen. Williams’s Alex Albon did superbly to claim ninth and move to sixth on the grid.
Esteban Ocon was fifth for Alpine and will start in 17th and McLaren’s Lando Norris 10th to start in 18th.
Verstappen was quickest in qualifying with a lap that would have been worthy of pole and is doubtless expectant of repeating the form in race pace. At the last round in Hungary he started from 10th on the grid but fought through to claim a win and his pace suggests he is in every position to come back through the field and still return a decent haul of points. He is also fortunately in a position to minimise any damage the penalties would have incurred in his title fight with Leclerc.
Carlos Sainz Jr on his way to second in qualifying and pole position on Sunday’s grid.
Carlos Sainz Jr on his way to second in qualifying and pole position on Sunday’s grid. Photograph: Lars Baron/Formula 1/Getty Images
This is Sainz’s second pole in five races having scored the first of his career and backed it up with his first win at Silverstone. With Verstappen and Leclerc’s grid penalties it was important for the team that he was able to step up and he duly did so, albeit while still unable to match Verstappen’s pace over the single lap.
Max Verstappen tops Belgian F1 GP qualifying but…
It is his first pole in Belgium and Ferrari’s first since 2019 when Leclerc took the top spot and went on to take his debut win for the Scuderia. He will need a clean and decisive run to convert it to victory on a track where he has not enjoyed great success in the past with a best finish here of 10th. The circuit remains a great challenge but with overtaking achievable he can expect a real fight at the front.
With eight victories already this season, Verstappen has established an absolutely dominant position in the title race, while Ferrari have suffered mechanical failures and tactical mistakes that have proved hugely costly to Leclerc, as was his error while leading in France. Verstappen now has an 80-point advantage over Leclerc in second place and has 85 points on Pérez.
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Daniel Ricciardo was 11th for McLaren but will start in seventh. Pierre Gasly was in 12th for AlphaTauri and will start in eighth, with Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll 14th but will start in ninth. Zhou was 13th and will be 19th on the grid, with Schumacher 15th but moving to 20th.
Valtteri Bottas was 20th but will start in 14th. He also had a penalty but not one shifting him to the back of the grid, allowing him to start in front of the other penalised drivers.
Sebastian Vettel was in 16th for Aston Martin and Nicholas Latifi in 17th for Williams. Kevin Magnussen was 18th for Haas and Yuki Tsunoda 19th for AlphaTauri. They will all move up six places.