Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc will start from pole position for the Belgian Grand Prix despite Max Verstappen having set the fastest time in qualifying on Friday. Double world champion Verstappen incurred a five-grid penalty for a change of gearbox on his Red Bull demoting him to sixth for Sunday’s race.
Verstappen’s teammate Sergio Perez will start alongside Leclerc on the front row for the 12th race of the Formula One season. Verstappen, who leads the championship by 110 points, won at Spa-Francorchamps last year from 14th on the grid.
“Last year we had lots of penalties and I still won the race so that will be the aim again,” said the Belgian-born Dutch driver.
Leclerc, eight-tenths of a second slower than Verstappen, said: “Not a bad qualifying for us, especially in those conditions. Let’s see how it goes. Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton and Carlos Sainz in the other Ferrari occupy the second row ahead of McLaren duo Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris.
Saturday features the third sprint race of the F1 season after Azerbaijan and Austria, with qualifying for the standalone race scheduled for Saturday morning at the majestic Ardennes circuit. After clearing up the debris from Ocon’s broken wing, the top-ten shootout began with Fernando Alonso leading a 10-car train of pairs of cars from the top five teams.
On their first runs, it was Leclerc on top ahead of Verstappen with Sainz third in the second Ferrari and the two McLarens. Hamilton and Russell did additional laps to improve to sixth and ninth.
Leclerc set the pace with a quick turn in 1:46.988, leaving Sainz and Piastri to go second and third initially before Verstappen blasted to the top in 1:46.168, by eight-tenths – a stunning lap.
QUALIFYING CLASSIFICATION
Charles Leclerc inherits pole position from Max Verstappen due to a 5-place grid penalty #BelgianGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/TQ3xuxvNz9
— Formula 1 (@F1) July 28, 2023
Verstappen’s penalty does not apply to the sprint. The Red Bull ace was lucky to squeeze into the third qualifying session with a late lap to climb to 10th in Q2 and admitted he had battled the drying conditions throughout the session.
“It was very tight. The conditions were really tricky and on my final lap in Q2 I didn’t have that confidence to push, but in Q3 we had two tyre sets so we had more chance to push,” he reported.
Source: supersport
In other news – Trevor Noah is set to release a book titled Into The Uncut Grass
Trevor Noah is set to release a break book titled Into The Uncut Grass. The book which will be his second release will be available in October, this year.
I’ve always wanted to write a book for all ages and I’m really excited to announce “Into The Uncut Grass” will be out Oct 31st,” he captioned post. Read more
