Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) will start this Sunday from the first position on the grid at the start of the Belgian Grand Prix, although pole position at the Spa-Francorchamp circuit went to Max Verstappen, who once again displayed devastating speed to leave all his rivals behind. He World Championship leader has received a penalty of five places on the grid for resorting to Red Bull’s fifth gearbox and will start sixth in the race.
Carlos Sainz will benefit from the Verstappen penalty and will win a place, to start fourthwhile Fernando Alonso will have to face a new race against the odds from ninth positionn behind the wheel of the Aston Martin.
The ‘qualy’ has been brought forward one day in Belgium since this weekend is the third in sprint format of the six on the 2023 calendar, which leaves Saturday’s day exclusively dedicated to the ‘sprint shoot’ and the short race, over 15 laps.
[Consulta la clasificación general del Mundial de F1]
THE BEAST takes the POLE
Verstappen achieves the best time and will start sixth after changing the gearbox#BelgicaDAZNF1 ???????? pic.twitter.com/QyDlMPMP2q
— DAZN Spain (@DAZN_ES) July 28, 2023
Q1: Norris Scare
After a single free session dominated by Carlos Sainz (Ferrari) and that it took place in very adverse weather conditions, with heavy rain and gusts of wind, the qualifying session was held without water, as is also expected to happen in the race on Sunday (3:00 p.m.), although the pilots have started with intermediate tires waiting for the track to dry out progressively.
George Russell (Mercedes) has been the fastest entry (2.01.485), although Piastri, second this morning, overtook him on his first lap with a McLaren that continues to ‘fly’. Your partner Lando Norris has suffered a run off track in turn 5, damaging his car in the gravel. However, the Briton, second on the podium in the last two appointments at Silverstone and Hungary, has saved ‘in extremis’ the pass to the next round.
Carlos Sainz was back in first place (2’00″536), with Verstappen 19 thousandths behind. The Dutchman who has not marked time in FP1 and has barely rolled to avoid risks unnecessary in the rain, has already begun to stand out in Q1, although still without showing its ‘letters’. Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin) has placed third provisionally, 2 tenths behind Sainz’s time.
Hamilton (Mercedes) has given a ‘slap’ to the clock even with the intermissions (1.58.841). It was the warning that the track was beginning to improve. And also the favorites: Leclerc has closed the pass to Q2 as the fastest (1.58.300), with Verstappen and Hamilton in the same tenth and Sainz and Alonso among the ‘top five’. Albon, Zhou, Sargeant, Hülkenberg and Daniel Ricciardo have been eliminated, whose fastest lap has been canceled due to track limits.
Q2: Alonso and Sainz, go ahead; Verstappen, to the limit
Max Verstappen has been about to drop prematurely eliminated by miscalculation. After leading the timesheets for many minutes on intermediate tyres, the Dutchman was surprised by the performance on slicks and ended up qualifying for Q3 in tenth and last position. Tsunoda, Gasly, Magnussen, Bottas and Ocon, who crashed after losing control of the Alpine, have been ruled out of the fight for pole position.
[Calendario de la temporada de F1]
The strategy has not gone well for Bottas either, since he was the first to dare with soft tires. Alonso, who has followed his example, almost lost control of the AMR23 on his first lap on slicks, but managed to recover at the end to secure his place in Q3 for the twelfth time this season.
GO GO GO GO GO GO GO BIEEEEN ????????????
Sainz and Alonso seal their pass to Q2 and the Williams fall#BelgicaDAZNF1 ???????? pic.twitter.com/e07iMUmXHz
— DAZN Spain (@DAZN_ES) July 28, 2023
Also Carlos Sainz has solved the ‘procedure’ and more than comfortably, by staying less than 2 tenths behind the best time, of Oscar Piastri (1:51.5). AND Checo Pérez has gotten into the fight for pole positionthus breaking the negative inertia of five grand prix outside of Q3.
The FIA has announced that the DRS could be used in the last round, an added benefit for Red Bull.
Q3: Pole
The McLarens tried to make a difference, with Piastri setting the best entry time ahead of Norris, but Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) pulverized his times to reach provisional pole position (1.47.931), with Verstappen 1 tenth behind and Sainz in third position, to 4.
Checo Pérez did not complete a good lap to start with, while Alonso was sixth, away from Leclerc (at 1.2) before the final assault.
There was one last attempt for everyone, with a soft tire and a track in better conditions. Leclerc has gone long in the previous one, but has cut his time (1.46.988), raising the bar. Nothing that the World Cup leader could not ‘solve’.
Verstappen has nailed a stratospheric lap (1.46.168) to surpass Leclerc and his teammate Sergio Pérez by more than 8 tenths and Hamilton and Sainz, fifth, by 9 tenths. Alonso, once again, has been far (1.6) with the Aston Martin.
Despite taking his eighth pole position of the season Mad ‘Max’ drops to sixth on Sunday’s grid, due to his previous penalty, and it will be Leclerc who will open the race, while Sainz also gains a place and will start fourth. Alonso will start ninth.
2023-07-28 14:40:36
#FORMULA #Leclerc #inherits #Verstappens #pole #position #Spa
