Qualifying for the Belgian Grand Prix took place in difficult conditions, but the most important thing is that it took place at all. The weather in Spa cleared and even though qualifying started on a wet track, dry tires came to the fore in the second half. The fastest was Max Verstappen, who will start from sixth place after taking into account the penalty for changing the gearbox. Charles Leclerc will take pole position on Sunday.
Q1 started with a ten-minute delay due to red flags in Formula 2. Just before its start, the sun also peeked out in Spa. The first part of the qualification was driven on a wet track and the tires came to the fore in transitional conditions.
However, not everyone was successful. Nico Hülkenberg suffered a hydraulic problem during Q1, which condemned him to start from last place. Daniel Ricciardo set a very good time, but he crossed the white line and the race director was merciless. Along with them, Logan Sargeant, Kaun-yü Chou and Alex Albon also dropped out.
In the second half of Q2, the track dried out enough and it was time to switch to the pictures. However, some pushed it too far. Kevin Magnussen and Esteban Ocon flew out at turn ten but were able to continue despite contact with the barrier, so no red flags were necessary. However, the Danish racer then got in the way of Charles Leclerc, and he will definitely be in trouble with the commissioners.
Ocon did not return to the track after the accident and dropped out. Only from tenth place did Max Verstappen advance. However, the times of Júki Cunoda, Pierre Gasly, Kevin Magnussen and Valtteri Bottas were not enough to break into the top ten.
Q3 brought a spectacular final in which all the drivers of the five fastest teams squared off. Charles Leclerc took the lead after the first attempts, but Max Verstappen absolutely outclassed the competition in the second attempt. Even though the Monacan improved significantly, the Dutchman beat him by 82 hundredths of a second. However, Leclerc does not have to grieve too much, as he will start from pole position on Sunday due to Verstappen’s penalty.
Third in qualifying (and second at the start) was Sergio Pérez, who recorded a quality qualifying result for the first time since the Miami Grand Prix, Lewis Hamilton is fourth and Carlos Sainz is fifth. The top ten were completed by: Piastri, Norris, Russell, Alonso and Stroll.
Saturday’s program will be reserved for the sprint. The shooting starts at 12:00, the sprint itself at 16:30.
FOM
2023-07-28 16:41:15
#Verstappen #dominated #qualifying #Belgium #big #lead #Leclerc #pole #position #Magazine #F1online.sk
