Max Verstappen set the fastest time in qualifying for the Belgian Grand Prix, but the Dutchman will start from 11th position due to a 10-place grid penalty for a power unit change, meaning that Charles Leclerc will inherit pole position.
Verstappen looked impressively quick as the session progressed and set an unbeatable lap of 1m 53.159s in the Red Bull, half a second clear of Ferrari’s Leclerc. Sergio Perez also had a strong qualifying, putting his Red Bull in 3rd place, ahead of Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton in 4th.
Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri took 5th and 6th respectively for McLaren, with Mercedes’ George Russell following in 7th.
Carlos Sainz secured 8th for Ferrari, while his compatriot Fernando Alonso took 9th in the Aston Martin and Esteban Ocon rounded out the top 10 for Alpine.
Alex Albon narrowly missed out on Q3 by just three thousandths of a second in the Williams, placing him 11th, and Pierre Gasly followed in 12th for Alpine.
Daniel Ricciardo finished 13th in the RB, ahead of Kick Sauber’s Valtteri Bottas in 14th and Lance Stroll – whose Aston Martin was repaired in time to participate after his FP3 crash – in 15th.
The Haas pair of Nico Hulkenberg and Kevin Magnussen had a disappointing day, exiting in Q1 in 16th and 17th, while Yuki Tsunoda was also eliminated in 18th, although the RB driver was already set to start from the back due to an engine penalty.
Logan Sargeant ended the day in 19th for Williams, with Kick Sauber’s Zhou Guanyu in 20th.
