#BelgianGP Qualifying: @Max33Verstappen quickest, but @Carlossainz55 takes pole due to grid penalties. #F1

Sainz Belgian GP pole – Red Bull’s Max Verstappen cruised in qualifying – but Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz takes the Belgian GP pole position after grid penalties come into play at Circuit De Spa-Francorchamps.

 

 

The reigning world champion opted not to take part in the final qualifying stage, knowing he will start 15^th on the grid owing a drop for exceeding his permitted components count.

 

Nevertheless, the Dutchman his benchmark flyer was so solid that he topped the session by 0.632 seconds as a scruffy Sainz final hot lap meant the Spaniard failed to improve at the end.

 

The other Red Bull RB18 entry of Sergio Perez will join the Ferrari on the front row of the grid, whilst Leclerc will meet points leader Verstappen as the duo are set to line-up in 15^th and 16^th respectively.

 

In Q3, Verstappen was a class above after the initial flying tours with the Dutchman flooring it to a 1:43.665 – the only sub 1:44 lap of the weekend.

 

This gave the defending champion a 0.632 second gap over Sainz, whilst his team-mate Perez was third and another two tenths back before his effort was invalidated for exceeding track limits at Raidillon.

 

Leclerc was fourth, having been initially sent out on a fresh set of softs.

 

Whilst both Alpines, Mercedes, Williams Racing’s Alexander Albon were all released on used rubber, Ferrari admitted on the team radio that it was an error.

 

Leclerc then went back out of the pits after his only run to give a slipstream to team-mate Sainz down the long Kemmel Straight.

 

But the tactics did not work as Sainz could not match his personal best before dipping his wheels in the gravel at Les Fagnes to end up with a 1:44.714 and failed to improve.

 

This left his earlier 1:44.297 as the Spaniard’s best effort, however the Ferrari driver has no penalties to carry over to the grid to line up on pole.

 

Perez similarly was unable to improve on his final flyer, whilst Alpine’s Esteban Ocon (also to start at the back of the grid) pipped team-mate Fernando Alonso for fifth and sixth respectively.

 

Mercedes’ Sir Lewis Hamilton lead team-mate George Russell for seventh and eighth places respectively as both W13 racers ran a massive 1.8 seconds adrift of Verstappen.

 

The Silver Arrows looks to be on the back foot on what might have been its best chance for a victory in 2022 given Verstappen and Leclerc’s reprimand.

 

Albon was the star in Q3 for Williams as the Thai-Briton made the FW44’s straight-line speed count in sector one (quickest of all), taking ninth and is set to line up sixth due to the grid penalties for power-unit component changes.

 

McLaren’s Lando Norris, decided not to run a second hot-lap and was 10^th, but the Briton too has penalties to serve.

 

In the second qualifying segment, which was topped by Leclerc, Albon made a late improvement to make Q3, relegating McLaren’s Daniel Ricciardo outside the top ten and in 11^th(Ricciardo however is set to start seventh due to grid penalties).

 

Scuderia AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly was 12^th and ahead of Alfa Romeo’s Zhou Guanyu who took 13^th as Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll who ended Q2 in 14^th and Haas F1 Team’s Mick Schumacher the slowest of the runners in 15^th.

 

In the first qualifying stage, which was topped by Verstappen, Albon made a late improvement to eliminate Aston Martin’s Sebastian Vettel with the German qualifying 16^th.

 

Williams Racing’s Nicholas Latifi was 17^th and in-front of Haas F1 Team’s Kevin Magnussen who took 18^th as AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda and Alfa Romeo’s Valtteri Bottas brought up the rear.

 

The start of qualifying was delayed for 25 minutes, announced 15 minutes before the session began, due to the Les Fagnes barriers being repaired following a Porsche Supercup crash.

 

You can see the full Formula 1 Rolex Belgian Grand Prix 2022 Qualifying Results Classification at the link: https://www.formula1.com/en/results.html/2022/races/1118/belgium/qualifying.html

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2022 Belgian GP Qualifying – The Top Three

 

 

2022 Belgian GP Qualifying Winner (Demoted to 15th due to engine grid penalties) – Max Verstappen, #1, Oracle Red Bull Racing-RBPT, RB18, 1:43.665:

“It was an amazing qualifying but also the whole weekend, car’s been working really well, and it all came together in qualifying. Very happy with my lap, it’s great to be here, amazing track. With a car like this, it would be a shame not to be on the podium.”

 

2^nd Place (Net Pole due to grid penalties) – Carlos Sainz, #55, Scuderia Ferrari, F1-75, +0.632:

“Happy to be starting on pole, not so happy with the gap to Max and Red Bull. We need to keep digging. Still a bit puzzled to see this big gap, makes me wonder what’s going to happen in the race.”

 

3^rd Place (Net 2^nd due to grid penalties) – Sergio Perez, #11, Oracle Red Bull Racing-RBPT, RB18, +0.797:

“P2 is not the worst place to be around here, looking forward to tomorrow. Very important to get a good start and try and do our own race, I think that will be key tomorrow.”

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2022 Belgian GP Starting Grid

 

Position	Driver	Team
1.	Carlos Sainz	Scuderia Ferrari
2.	Sergio Perez	Red Bull Racing
3.	Fernando Alonso	Alpine F1 Team
4.	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes AMG F1
5.	George Russell	Mercedes AMG F1
6.	Alexander Albon	Williams Racing
7.	Daniel Ricciardo	McLaren F1 Team
8.	Pierre Gasly	Scuderia AlphaTauri
9.	Lance Stroll	Aston Martin F1
10.	Sebastian Vettel	Aston Martin F1
11.	Nicholas Latifi	Williams Racing
12.	Kevin Magnussen	Haas F1 Team
13.	Yuki Tsunoda	Scuderia AlphaTauri
14.	Valtteri Bottas**	Alfa Romeo F1 Team ORLEN
15.	Max Verstappen**	Red Bull Racing
16.	Charles Leclerc**	Scuderia Ferrari
17.	Esteban Ocon**	Alpine F1 Team
18.	Lando Norris**	McLaren F1 Team
19.	Zhou Guanyu	Alfa Romeo F1 Team ORLEN
20.	Mick Schumacher**	Haas F1 Team

** Driver given penalty.

 

In the earlier FP3 session it was Red Bull’s Perez leading team-mate Verstappen with Ferrari’s Sainz completing the top three as McLaren’s Norris and Alpine’s Alonso rounded out the top five. You can see the full Formula 1 Rolex Belgian Grand Prix 2022 Free Practice 3 Results Classification at the link: https://www.formula1.com/en/results.html/2022/races/1118/belgium/practice-3.html