The conditions in the Ardennes mountains might have suited Max Verstappen with all too familiar rain and mist encircling Spa-Francorchamps, but the world champion nonetheless laid down a formidable marker in qualifying for the Belgian Grand Prix. Quickest by a country mile, the Red Bull driver will need every bit of pace on Sunday if he is to claw back the deficit from a 10-place grid penalty, but it is a comeback that cannot be ruled out.
Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc has pole position at Spa and deserved it with a superb lap where he wrestled something special from what has been a recalcitrant Ferrari in very tricky, wet conditions. Yet for all that, it was entirely eclipsed by Verstappen’s run. He finished with a time of 1min 53.159sec, almost a full six-tenths quicker than Leclerc in second, with Red Bull’s Sergio Pérez in third and Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton in fourth.
