He set a lap worthy of pole position, but as one of a third of the grid hit by a penalty it was Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz Jr, who was second, who claimed first place. As fans sat in the chilly mountain air at Spa-Francorchamps doing the mental math, Mercedes were left with some unflattering figures of their own, leaving Lewis Hamilton desperate for a car he said he couldn’t wait to see the back of. For the record, Verstappen set a strong lap with a time of 1min 43.665sec, six tenths ahead of Sainz in second. However, Red Bull had fitted a new power unit to the Dutchman’s car, beyond its allocation, causing a penalty at the back of the grid. With six other drivers serving similar penalties, Verstappen will start 15th. Musical chairs continued from top to bottom on the grid, with only two drivers starting within two places of their qualifying positions. Red Bull’s Sergio Pérez was third (second on the grid), Alpine’s Fernando Alonso sixth (up to third), while Verstappen’s title rival Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc was fourth but, having also taken a new power unit, will start on the 16th. Mercedes was optimistic about the weekend, but was very disappointed. Hopes were high for the first race after F1’s summer break after George Russell took pole and both drivers a double podium at the final round in Hungary. However, Hamilton, who was no slouch here with six poles and four wins, was seventh, almost two seconds behind Verstappen and Russell, eighth (promoted to what they know is an undeserved fourth and fifth on the grid). The seven-time world champion was blunt in his frustration and disappointment. “We came here very, very optimistic that we could be close to half a second, who knows? To be 1.8 seconds behind, it’s a real kick in the teeth,” he said. “It’s a car we’re still racing with and I’m certainly not going to miss it at the end of the year. For me, it’s just about focusing on how we build and design next year’s car. “The other two teams in front of us are in another league and our car looks very different to theirs.” Carlos Sainz Jr is second in qualifying and on pole position on Sunday’s grid. Photo: Lars Baron/Formula 1/Getty Images Team principal Toto Wolff was equally candid, describing it as his “worst qualifying period in 10 years”. It’s nine races in 12 weeks and it looks like a positively grueling affair, with Mercedes’ performance seemingly as unreadable now as it was at the Bahrain opener. Hamilton’s record of having won in every F1 season he has competed in appears to be under real threat. Not only because the real optimism after the summer will be in the Red Bull camp. Fears that FIA rules to curb the bounce that has plagued the entire grid could negatively affect the team appear to have been unfounded – Verstappen’s pace was terrifying here. In Hungary he worked his way from 10th to victory and both Russell and Sainz said they believed he was capable of doing something similar here on Sunday. The Dutchman has little confidence in his ability to do so. The pressure is really on Leclerc. He trails Verstappen by 80 points and cannot afford to drop any further if he is to keep his slim title hopes alive. He and Ferrari cannot afford any mistakes on Sunday, when even staying with the Dutchman could prove to be a chore. Still, it’s something that should at least be fun. For all that the penalty system presents an ultimately unsatisfying ranked matchup, it has created a confusing grid that means the numbers should add up to some exciting matches. McLaren’s Lando Norris, Alfa Romeo’s Guanyu Zhou, Alpine’s Esteban Ocon and Haas’ Mick Schumacher also have the same penalties as Verstappen and Leclerc, moving them to the back of the grid for getting new power unit components over from their distribution. Williams’ Alex Albon did brilliantly to finish ninth and move up to sixth on the grid. Ocon was fifth for Alpine and will start 17th and McLaren’s Lando Norris 10th to start 18th. Quick guide
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Thanks for your response. Daniel Ricciardo was 11th for McLaren but will start seventh. Pierre Gasly was 12th for AlphaTauri and will start eighth, with Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll 14th but starting ninth. Zou was 13th and will be 19th, with Schumacher 15th but moving to 20th. Valtteri Bottas was 20th but will start 14th. He also had a penalty, but it did not move him to the back of the grid, allowing him to start ahead of the other penalized drivers. Sebastian Vettel was 16th for Aston Martin and Nicholas Latifi 17th for Williams. Kevin Magnussen was 18th for Haas and Yuki Tsunoda 19th for AlphaTauri. Everyone will move up six places.
