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Verstappen was fastest on Friday, but it will be Leclerc in P1 when the lights go out Sunday
When he needed it most, Max Verstappen came through yet again. After barely advancing to Q3 in Friday’s qualifying ahead of the Belgian Grand Prix, placing tenth in Q2, Verstappen came through with his best lap of the afternoon at Spa at the very end of Q3, grabbing pole position away from Charles Leclerc.
But it will be Leclerc who starts the Grand Prix in P1 anyway.
Due to a five-place grid penalty handed to Verstappen after Red Bull put the fifth gearbox of the season on his RB19 — one more than the four allotted to each driver for the season — Verstappen will instead start Sunday’s Grand Prix in sixth place. Leclerc, courtesy of the penalty, will start first. Alongside him will be Verstappen’s teammate Sergio Pérez, who qualified third but bumps up a spot due to Verstappen’s penalty.
“It was very tight. Of course, the conditions were very tricky,” said Verstappen after qualifying. “The track was really drying quickly, and my final lap, I just didn’t have that confidence in Q2 to push more, and I was very lucky to be in P10.”
Verstappen came across the line in tenth place near the very end of Q2, but with drivers still finishing their final laps, there was a chance the leader in the Drivers’ Championship would be eliminated in Q2. But when both Pierre Gasly and Kevin Magnussen failed to top his time, Verstappen was through to Q3.
However, the Red Bull driver was not happy when speaking with his engineer Gianpiero Lambiase, otherwise known as “GP:”
As for Leclerc his P2, and eventual pole position, shows some improvement in wet conditions. Leclerc struggled in similar conditions earlier in the season, most notably at the Spanish and Canadian Grands Prix, but stated following qualifying that some slight changes to his driving style helped him on Friday in the tricky conditions.
“It’s very difficult to give details because it’s very slight changes in terms of driving style,” said Leclerc following qualifying. “But that makes a big difference at the end.
“I have a very aggressive driving style, whether it’s in full wet or full dry, which pays off in those two conditions. But whenever I’m in between with slick tyres, then it doesn’t really pay off,” added the Ferrari driver. “I tried different directions also with tools, so the way the car is set up and the way I can change it from one corner to the other, and this gave me much more confidence straight away and the lap time came better.”
Still, Leclerc knows he has a difficult task ahead of him given the pace Red Bull has shown this season.
“I don’t think so, Red Bull are too quick,” said Leclerc when asked if he could win on Sunday. “Even if Max has a [five-place] penalty, I expect him to catch up. We’ve got Checo [Perez] right next to us, which will be also very difficult to keep behind. Again, if there’s an opportunity I’ll try and keep [the lead], as always, but it looks difficult on paper.”
The driver who qualified on pole might share that sentiment.
After all, a year ago Verstappen qualified on pole but took a number of grid penalties, dropping him to P14 at the start. However, Verstappen was in the points by the end of Lap 1, and was up to P1 by Lap 12. He would go on to win the 2022 Belgian Grand Prix despite starting 14th.
So starting sixth might seem easy to him.
“Last year I had more penalties, and we could still win the race,” said Verstappen following qualifying. “So that’s still the target for Sunday.”
Given the way his year has gone, it is hard to bet against him.
