Cloudy. Dry. Air +15С, route +20…21С
Qualifying at Spa is not fundamental, although the pole holder has won six of the last seven Grands Prix at this circuit. It is easier to overtake on the Belgian circuit than in the remaining races before the end of the season, so most teams have planned the replacement of engines and gearboxes at this stage, leaving a reserve for the following stages.
If these substitutions didn’t lead to penalties last year, now seven riders were immediately penalized by starting from the last row, including the championship leaders – Verstappen and Leclerc, and alongside them Norris, Ocon, Bottas, Schumacher and Zhou – qualifying determined their actual arrangement at the beginning.
Cool weather affected the balance of power. Not everyone managed to achieve efficient tire operation – for some it warmed up for a long time, gradually losing efficiency, for others it wore out quickly. Soft tires worked best in such conditions – and the teams tried to save them, leaving some reserve for the race.
The start of qualifying was delayed by 25 minutes to repair the safety barrier at the Fagnes chicane, damaged during the Porsche Supercup session.
In the first session Max Verstappen led the scoresheet in the first attempt with 1:44.581. Most drivers only had enough tires for one fast lap, Mercedes tried to work in a series of laps to gradually put the tires into work mode.
Verstappen, Sainz, Perez and Leclerc refused the second attempt, the rest kept fighting. Bottas returned to the pits without completing a fast lap. Tsunoda made a mistake in the last corner, ruining the attempt. Max’s result stood. Vettel, Latifi, Magnussen, Tsunoda and Bottas dropped out.
In the second session the first attempt was left for Verstappen – 1:44.723, Perez lost seven hundredths to Max, the rest lost more than half a second.
Verstappen and Pérez gave up on the second attempt, the rest kept fighting – and Charles Leclerc showed the best time, having completed the lap in 1:44.551.
Alex Albon reached the qualifying final for the first time this season at Williams. Ricciardo, Gasly, Zhou, Stroll and Schumacher dropped out of the fight.
In the final Leclerc later left for the first attempt, already on track it was revealed that he had been given a set of tires rolled up, although he was counting on a new one – and the team apologized for the mistake. The best time was shown by Verstappen on fresh tires – 1:43.665.
Verstappen and Norris refused the second attempt – tomorrow they will lose positions due to a penalty and Leclerc took off to disperse his partner in a slipstream.
Max Verstappen won qualifying at Spa, but Carlos Sainz, who set the second fastest time, will start from pole tomorrow.
Sainz and Perez will share the front row of the grid, Alonso and Hamilton – the second, Russell and Albon – the third. A race with so many fast cars behind you is sure to be interesting!
Qualification Results
| pilot | Team | 1 session | 2 session | 3 session | ||||||
| m | Time | Cr | m | Time | Cr | m | Time | Cr | ||
| 1. Mr Verstappen | Red Bull | a | 1:44.581 | 3 | 2 | 1:44,723 | 3 | a | 1:43.665 | 3 |
| 2. K. Sainz | Ferrari | 2 | 1:45.050 | 3 | four | 1:45.418 | 5 | 2 | 1:44.297 | 6 |
| 3. C.Perez | Red Bull | 3 | 1:45.377 | 3 | 3 | 1:44,794 | 3 | 3 | 1:44.462 | 6 |
| 4. Sh. Leclerc | Ferrari | four | 1:45.572 | four | a | 1:44.551 | 6 | four | 1:44.553 | four |
| 5. E. Okon | alpine | 9 | 1:46.039 | 5 | 7 | 1: 45.475 | 5 | 5 | 1:45.180 | 5 |
| 6. F. Alonso | alpine | ten | 1:46.075 | 5 | eight | 1:45.552 | 6 | 6 | 1:45.368 | 5 |
| 7. L. Hamilton | Mercedes | 7 | 1:45.736 | eight | 5 | 1:45.420 | 6 | 7 | 1:45.503 | 6 |
| 8. D. Russell | Mercedes | 5 | 1:45.650 | eight | 6 | 1:45,461 | 6 | eight | 1:45.776 | 6 |
| 9. A. Albon | Williams | 6 | 1:45.672 | 6 | ten | 1:45,675 | 6 | 9 | 1:45.837 | 6 |
| 10. L. Norris | McLaren | eight | 1:45.745 | 6 | 9 | 1:45.603 | 5 | ten | 1:46.178 | 3 |
| 11. D. Riccardo | McLaren | 13 | 1:46.212 | 6 | elf | 1:45.767 | 3 | |||
| 12. P. Gasly | AlphaTauri | 12 | 1:46.183 | 6 | 12 | 1:45.827 | 6 | |||
| 13. G. Zhou’ | Alfa Romeo | elf | 1:46.178 | 6 | 13 | 1:46.085 | 6 | |||
| 14. L. Walk | Aston Martin | fourteen | 1:46.256 | 6 | fourteen | 1:46.611 | 6 | |||
| 15. M. Schumacher | hare | fifteen | 1:46.342 | eight | fifteen | 1:47.718 | 5 | |||
| 16. S. Vettel | Aston Martin | 16 | 1:46.344 | 6 | ||||||
| 17. N. Latifi | Williams | 17 | 1:46.401 | 7 | ||||||
| 18. K. Magnussen | hare | eighteen | 1:46.557 | 6 | ||||||
| 19. Y. Tsunoda | AlphaTauri | 19 | 1:46,692 | 6 | ||||||
| 20. V. Bottas | Alfa Romeo | twenty | 1:47.866 | 5 | ||||||
Source: F1 News
I’m Todderic Kirkman, a journalist and author for athletistic. I specialize in covering all news related to sports, ranging from basketball to football and everything in between. With over 10 years of experience in the industry, I have become an invaluable asset to my team. My ambition is to bring the most up-to-date information on sports topics around the world.
