Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc takes a pole position for the 2024 Belgian GP Qualifying in a session dominated by wet conditions. Red Bull’s Sergio Perez comes home in 2nd and Lewis Hamilton in 3rd joined polesitter to round up ‘Saturday’s podium’.
Reigning World Champion Max Verstappen set a quickest time at the qualifying but due to a grid penalty will start in 11th.
Monegasque pole-position comes off as a slight surprise due to Red Bull’s and McLaren’s dominance in previous sessions of the weekend.
Piastri and Verstappen battle it out Q1 at 2024 Belgian GP Qualifying
All drivers rushed out on track on their intermediates amid the danger that conditions may worsen up throughout the session.
As the initial warning of a quick arriving heavier rain slowed down, drivers stayed out on track to provide more lap times in case of weather misfortunes.
Max Verstappen set an early pace with a lap that was one second quicker than McLaren’s Piastri in 2nd and one and a half seconds than Mercedes’ Hamilton in 3rd.
However, the Dutchman’s Saturday result is irrelevant due to the 10-place grid penalty for Sunday’s race.
‘Candidate for the Sunday’s glory’ Lando Norris’s early struggles in Q1 tempted Briton to pit in for a new set of intermediates amid a weather risk on the horizon.
A couple of minutes later Norris ‘brings himself into the life’ with a solid lap that drags him away from the risk of elimination up to 5th.
George Russell is another ‘big name’ who saved himself from elimination setting a 3rd fastest time.
Q1 was noted for a constant switch between Max Verstappen and Oscar Piastri on top with Australian snatching the spot from World Champion in the last moments of the Q1.
Nico Hülkenberg, Kevin Magnussen, Yuki Tsunoda, Logan Sargeant, and Zhou Guanyu were unable to leave themselves out of Q1.
Incident-free Q2 session emerges Red Bull and McLaren as top contenders
Albon sets the quickest lap time leaving behind Alpine’s and Mercedes’ George Russell whose cars behave decent in soaked conditions. However, Norris is quick to dispatch the Thai driver from 1st place.
The first part of the 2024 Belgian GP Qualifying Session 2 ends with Max Verstappen as a benchmark as drivers set their sights on pitlane entry and fresh sets of green-banded Intermediates.
Despite rainy conditions and the ominous status legendary Spa possesses, well-behaved drivers have not caused any incidents or major crashes yet at the 2024 Belgian GP Qualifying session.
Track evolution sees inconsistent Mercedes up to 2nd and 3rd whilst Sergio Perez saves himself from another Saturday disaster by finishing up in 10th with just 3 thousands of a seconds ahead of Williams’ Albon.
Alex Albon, Pierre Gasly, Daniel Ricciardo, Valtteri Bottas and Lance Stroll are the drivers who did not progress to Q3 of the 2024 Belgian GP Qualifying.
Final shootout for pole for the 2024 Belgian GP
As it seems to be a tradition this season, Brackley-based outfit Mercedes is the first out on track for the final 12 minutes that will decide the starting grid for the final race before summer break.
The first round of laps at the final round of the 2024 Belgian GP Qualifying belonged to the Red Bull duo who locked a provisional front row for Sunday’s race. Behind the Austrian team Mercedes and McLaren shuffled up the next 4 positions.
As the rain gets heavier it seems that Sergio Perez sits in provisional pole position due to Verstappen’s 10-place grid penalty for tomorrow’s race.
The closest contenders in Mercedes and McLaren are unable to improve their lap times as the gap between Red Bull and the two teams stands at over 6 tenths.
In the meantime, Leclerc takes a provisional pole position which in the end gives him a best starting position for tomorrow’s race.