SPA, Belgium — Max Verstappen set the quickest time in Saturday’s Formula 1 qualifying session at Spa-Francorchamps, but it’ll be Charles Leclerc starting from the pole position for the Belgian Grand Prix.
The three-time world champion got hit with a 10-spot grid penalty Friday for a power unit change, meaning he’ll roll off 11th Sunday despite a lap of 1:53:159, six-tenths better than Leclerc.
“I’m very happy. I think we’ve absolutely maximized the potential of the car,” Leclerc said after qualifying. “Now we’ve got to look forward to tomorrow. It’s, otherwise, a very difficult track to keep first place until turn 4, but I’ll try my best.
“It’s going to be a tricky one for sure.”
A victory still isn’t completely unattainable for Verstappen. In 2022 at Spa, he started 14th and came back to win.
“We live in a bit of a different world now. A lot more competitive cars up at the front,” Verstappen said. “Hopefully, we can just have a strong race and have a little fun out there.”
Sergio Perez will slide up to start second, while Lewis Hamilton, Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri round out the top five starters. George Russell starts sixth, Carlos Sainz seventh, Fernando Alonso eighth and Esteban Ocon ninth.
Despite missing out on Q3 by just three-thousandths of a second, Alexander Albon will start 10th.
Daniel Ricciardo missed Q3 and will start 13th. His team gambled with a tire call as rain approached the circuit, but ultimately, it backfired.
“I don’t love 13th. I do feel like we were better than that,” Ricciardo said. “It was a call we made at the time and it didn’t seem like a silly one. It just didn’t work out for us.”
Haas drivers Nico Hulkenberg and Kevin Magnussen each failed to advance out of Q1 and will start 16th and 17th, respectively.
Yuki Tsunoda qualified 18th but will come from the rear with an engine penalty.
“Let’s see how it goes tomorrow,” Tsunoda said. “We’ll make it work and hopefully we can score points.”