It doesn’t matter that he has to drop five positions on the starting grid for Sunday’s race in Belgium and start from 6th place. Max Verstappen is so superior to everyone that he can afford to give life to his rivals. Even so, to mark ground, he earlier exhibited his power by taking pole position in Spa, in a devastating way, leaving his immediate pursuer, Charles Leclerc, eight tenths behind, who will receive the gift of starting first.
If there was no color in the attribution of the poleman, the fight is very alive in the noble positions: Sergio Pérez and Lewis Hamilton, 2nd and 3rd, compete with the Ferrari (Carlos Sainz, 4th) and the McLaren for reach the podium. While Aston Martin is still stagnant, and Fernando Alonso will start 9th.
Before, this Saturday the third Sprint or short race of the season is held (4:30 p.m.).
After a rainy Friday, typical in the Ardennes, which threatened suspension of the day, the qualifying session for the Belgian GP –a day earlier than the Sprint on Saturday- started with the sun in the sky and the cars wearing intermediate striped tyres. The asphalt was soaked. The slightest mistake would pay dearly. All the pilots were careful not to go off track.
The session was entertaining, with numerous provisional polesitter changes as the track dried out. When it seemed that Hamilton was prevailing, Verstappen arrived and took him out of the way, and then Leclerc did, who took the best time in Q1. The two-time Dutch champion was second and the English seven-time champion was third, with Sainz fourth and Alonso fifth.
In the second sleeve they were encouraged to lead secondary regulars such as Piastri and Pérez. In the middle of Q2 the teams dared to mount soft slick tires; They were risking to overthrow Verstappen, who was leading ahead of Pérez. The revolution of the hidden ones got out of hand: Tsunoda came to lead, Piastri, the rookie, was left with the best time, ahead of Sainz and Leclerc, and Stroll took the fourth time. Verstappen, surprisingly, closed at the limit, 10th, just ahead of Alonso, 9th.
The Dutchman did not like that position and the risk of being left out, and he showed it with his team on the radio with obvious anger.
In the final Q3, with the track already dry, the McLarens showed that they are at their best moment, having taken a giant step that has put them in the noble class, ahead of Aston Martin and Mercedes. Piastri came to lead the first attempt of this sleeve, which ended up taking Leclerc by only 128 thousandths of a second over Verstappen. Sainz was third and Alonso, seventh.
In the second attempt, all with new soft tires, there was no color: Verstappen took out the ax of every weekend and left the Ferraris, the McLarens and his partner dry. The Dutchman moved away his immediate pursuer, Leclerc, to 8 tenths… a world.
Carlos Sainz, who was 5th, will start 4th due to Verstappen’s suspension, while Fernando Alonso, who was fifth, will start ninth, together with his teammate Stroll.
