With seven drivers – Max Verstappen, Charles Leclerc, Lando Norris, Esteban Ocon, Zhou Guanyu, Mick Schumacher and Valtteri Bottas – serving grid penalties, the rest of the field was effectively facing the top 13 grid positions. As a result, Sainz’s miserable Q3 lap for P2 will see him start first ahead of Sergio Perez, while Verstappen and Leclerc will drop to P15 and P16 respectively having qualified P1 and P4 overall. Ocon qualified fifth ahead of Fernando Alonso in P6 for Alpine, but the Frenchman will drop behind Leclerc. Lewis Hamilton took P7 ahead of Mercedes teammate George Russell, while Alex Albon reached Q3 for the first time this season and qualified in a provisional ninth. Of course, those four drivers will be promoted three places each, while 10th qualifier Lando Norris will start 18th on the grid. 1 Max Verstappen VER Red Bull Racing 1:43.665 2 Carlos Sainz SAI Ferrari 1:44.297 3 Sergio Perez PER Red Bull Racing 1:44.462 4 Charles Leclerc LEC Ferrari 1:44.553 5 Esteban Ocon OCO: Alpine 18104. Daniel Ricciardo missed the top 10 finishing 11th for McLaren in Q2, while Pierre Gasly finished 12th for AlphaTauri. Zhou Guanyu, Lance Stroll and Mick Schumacher dropped out of Q2 from P13 to P15, respectively. However, penalties for others will see Ricciardo, Gasly and Stroll start inside the top 10 on Sunday – and Zhou and Schumacher start from the back row. Q1 was delayed by 25 minutes and when the session started it was Verstappen who set the benchmark ahead of Sainz and Perez as Sebastian Vettel was eliminated in P16 by 0.002s, followed by Williams’ Nicholas Latifi in P17 – this pair were to to be promoted. to a corresponding P10 and P11 in the grid. Haas’ Kevin Magnussen finished 18th due to lock-up at Turn 8, Yuki Tsunoda was next in P19 having locked up a lot in the final and Valtteri Bottas rounds out the standings in P20. This trio will jump to P12, P13 and P14 respectively for Sunday’s race. Qualifying Highlights: Belgian Grand Prix
AS IT HAPPENED
Q1 – Verstappen sets the pace with one take
Grid penalties were the talk of the paddock at Spa-Francorchamps on Friday and Saturday. Those hit with penalties for the 2022 Belgian Grand Prix are: FP2 leader Verstappen, Leclerc, Norris, Ocon, Zhou and Schumacher. Bottas, meanwhile, has 20-place penalties for his component choices. Sainz and Perez would therefore have an excellent chance of pole as two of the 13 drivers face no penalties for Sunday’s Grand Prix – but they would all have to wait as Q1 was delayed by 25 minutes for a Porsche Supercup accident and the repairs that they arose. However, it was Verstappen who proved the driver to beat in Q1 as he set a first target of 1m 44.581s, Sainz dropped to P2 by 0.469s and Perez third by 0.796s to leave Leclerc almost a second clear in P4 – with Stroll, Latifi, Schumacher and both Alfa Romeos in the temporary drop zone. Verstappen was steady on the pace in Q1 Mercedes tried to warm up their tires and started Q1 with a series of flying efforts which saw Russell in 10th and Hamilton in 11th. There was still time for the entire field to improve, although neither the Red Bulls nor the Ferraris appeared for second row. With rain storms reported through Eau Rouge, Russell rounded out the top five by 1.069 seconds with Albon coming sixth to split the Mercedes as Hamilton took P7. That left Norris eighth – Ricciardo dropped to P13 due to a track limit violation. Ocon finished just ahead of Alonso as the Alpine took P9 and P10, leaving Gasly 12th. Stroll finished 14th, Schumacher a tenth back in P15 – as Vettel crashed out of Q1 by 0.002s to his compatriot. Latifi and Magnussen were next on the board as they missed Q2, with the Haas driver locking up at Turn 8. Alfa Romeo driver Bottas’ run of 148 Q1 advances came to an end as he was knocked out in P20, behind Tsunoda – who closed at the final chicane to finish P19 for AlphaTauri. Knocked out: Vettel, Latifi, Magnussen, Tsunoda, Bottas Despite finishing 20th, Bottas will start 14th on Sunday
Q2 – Leclerc leads the Red Bulls as Albon gets by
Verstappen came out swinging in Q2 with a time of 1m 44.723s, team-mate Perez just 0.071s off his effort – while Sainz was a further six tenths back in P3 and Leclerc’s team-mate was sixth fastest after reporting his car was “Jumping like crazy at the top of the slow turns.” Ricciardo sat P15 after the first untimed runs, joining Albon, then Zhou, Stroll and Schumacher in the provisional drop zone. When Ricciardo emerged, he was towed by his McLaren counterpart, Norris – Alpine, following suit with Ocon towing Alonso on the Kemmel straight. Meanwhile, Red Bull decides to drop another series. Leclerc eventually jumped into P1 with a time of 1m 44.551s, leaving Verstappen second by 0.172s and Perez 0.243s off in P3. Sainz finished fourth in Q2, 0.867 seconds off the pace having also decided to face another run – while Hamilton took fifth and Russell sixth. Ocon finished eighth and pipped Alonso to ninth in his second stint, while McLaren echoed Alpine’s teamwork with ninth-placed Norris trailing Ricciardo – but the Australian could only finish 11th, missing Q3 by a tenth of a second . It was Williams’ Alex Albon who finished 10th in Q2, reaching the top 10 shootout for the first time this season and securing at least P6 on the grid. Knocked out: Ricciardo, Gasly, Zhou, Stroll, Schumacher Albon secured at least P6 by reaching Q3
Q3 – Verstappen puts on a show but Sainz secures pole
Verstappen, Ocon, Norris and Leclerc were the four drivers in Q3 to be relegated to the back of the grid. Nevertheless, the Dutchman came out on top with his first flying lap, clocking 1m 43.665s to put him six tenths ahead of Sainz in P2. “Wait, what are those tires?” came a garbled radio message from Leclerc as he appeared for the top-10 shootout. Anticipating a penalty, he would tow Sainz to help the Spaniard fight for pole – but the team had mistakenly stuck the Monegasque with the wrong set of softs. Meanwhile, Perez had his lap for P3 for the limits of the track, Leclerc completed his lap to take third despite tire confusion. After the second stints, Verstappen decided to finish qualifying as the fastest man on track, while Leclerc emerged only to trail team-mate Raidillon and the Kemmel Straight. Execution may have been lacking as Sainz lost three tenths in the first sector alone, winning the gravel to lose even more time in Sector 2. It didn’t improve. Not even the top four though, and while it was a qualifier for Red Bull, Sainz would start from pole position having taken P2 in Q3 – Perez to join him on the front row while Verstappen would drop to 15th and Leclerc in 16th for Sunday’s race. Although Ocon completed the top five, he will start 17th, while Alonso who qualified sixth is third on the grid. Hamilton will join Alonso on the second row having qualified seventh ahead of his Mercedes team-mate Russell, with Albon starting the race in sixth having finished ninth on Saturday. Rounding out the top ten in Q3, Norris will start 18th behind Ocon. Leclerc will start behind Verstappen for the 2022 Belgian Grand Prix
Key quote
“It was OK. I’m happy to start on pole. Obviously I’m not happy to see the gap to Max this weekend and the gap Red Bull has to us. We have to keep digging to see why Red Bull are so fast at this track and why we follow it, but starting from pole is a good place to start and we will try to win from there tomorrow” – Carlos Sainz, Ferrari
What’s next?
Sainz and Perez will lead the front row, with Verstappen and Leclerc chasing the pack from P15 and P16 when the Belgian Grand Prix gets underway at 4pm local time on Sunday. Head to RACE HUB for the full schedule.
