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F1 Belgian GP qualifying results: Leclerc inherits pole from Verstappen

That means Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc will start from the front of the grid, ahead of Red Bull’s Sergio Perez and Lewis Hamilton of Mercedes after the one-hour qualifying session, which is split into three segments with five cars each being knocked out in Q1 and Q2 before the top-10 shootout of Q3.

Belgian Grand Prix grid: Leclerc on pole from Perez

Cla   Nº   Driver   Car / Engine   Time   Delay 
16 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1'53.754  
11 Sergio Pérez Red Bull/Honda RBPT 1'53.765 0.011
44 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1'53.835 0.081
4 Lando Norris McLaren/Mercedes 1'53.981 0.227
81 Oscar Piastri McLaren/Mercedes 1'54.027 0.273
63 George Russell Mercedes 1'54.184 0.430
55 Carlos Sainz Ferrari 1'54.477 0.723
14 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin/Mercedes 1'54.765 1.011
31 Esteban Ocon Alpine/Renault 1'54.810 1.056
10  23 Alexander Albon Williams/Mercedes 1'54.473 0.719
11  1 Max Verstappen Red Bull/Honda RBPT 1'53.159 -0.595
12  10 Pierre Gasly Alpine/Renault 1'54.635 0.881
13  3 Daniel Ricciardo RB/Honda RBPT 1'54.682 0.928
14  77 Valtteri Bottas Sauber/Ferrari 1'54.764 1.010
15  18 Lance Stroll Aston Martin/Mercedes 1'55.716 1.962
16  27 Nico Hülkenberg Haas/Ferrari 1'56.308 2.554
17  20 Kevin Magnussen Haas/Ferrari 1'56.500 2.746
18  2 Logan Sargeant Williams/Mercedes 1'57.230 3.476
19  24 Zhou Guanyu Sauber/Ferrari 1'57.775 4.021
20  22 Yuki Tsunoda RB/Honda RBPT 1'56.593 2.839

What happened in Belgian Grand Prix Q1?

On a wet track, but with more rain forecast, teams were keen to get their drivers on track right from the start of the session.

On intermediate tyres, McLaren's Oscar Piastri set the benchmark at 1m57.411s on his opening flyer, but Verstappen blew that away with 1m56.003s.

Piastri stayed out as the track dried, working down to 1m55.549s to retake P1 with six minutes remaining but Verstappen reclaimed the top spot with 1m54.938s.

Piastri wasn’t to be denied, however, setting 1m54.835s on a second set of inters for his final run, 0.076s ahead of an impressive Pierre Gasly for Alpine and a tenth clear of Verstappen.

Falling at the first hurdle were the Haas duo of Nico Hulkenberg and Kevin Magnussen, Yuki Tsunoda (RB – who will start from the back of the grid anyway), Logan Sargeant (Williams) and Zhou Guanyu (Sauber).

Belgian GP Q1 results: Piastri fastest from Gasly

Cla   Nº   Driver   Car / Engine   Time   Delay   Laps 
81 Oscar Piastri McLaren/Mercedes 1'54.835   9
10 Pierre Gasly Alpine/Renault 1'54.911 0.076 9
1 Max Verstappen Red Bull/Honda RBPT 1'54.938 0.103 8
11 Sergio Pérez Red Bull/Honda RBPT 1'55.139 0.304 9
55 Carlos Sainz Ferrari 1'55.169 0.334 9
16 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1'55.349 0.514 8
63 George Russell Mercedes 1'55.353 0.518 8
31 Esteban Ocon Alpine/Renault 1'55.417 0.582 9
3 Daniel Ricciardo RB/Honda RBPT 1'55.451 0.616 8
10  14 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin/Mercedes 1'55.489 0.654 9
11  77 Valtteri Bottas Sauber/Ferrari 1'55.531 0.696 9
12  4 Lando Norris McLaren/Mercedes 1'55.582 0.747 10
13  44 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1'55.692 0.857 8
14  23 Alexander Albon Williams/Mercedes 1'55.722 0.887 9
15  18 Lance Stroll Aston Martin/Mercedes 1'56.072 1.237 9
16  27 Nico Hülkenberg Haas/Ferrari 1'56.308 1.473 9
17  20 Kevin Magnussen Haas/Ferrari 1'56.500 1.665 9
18  22 Yuki Tsunoda RB/Honda RBPT 1'56.593 1.758 8
19  2 Logan Sargeant Williams/Mercedes 1'57.230 2.395 8
20  24 Zhou Guanyu Sauber/Ferrari 1'57.775 2.940 9

What happened in Belgian Grand Prix Q2?

Still on intermediates due to steady drizzle, Verstappen set the pace at 1m53.857s on his first flying lap, despite a snap of oversteer at Stavelot. Hamilton got within two tenths a second of him for P2 on a late flying lap.

Knocked out at this point were Alex Albon (Williams), Pierre Gasly (Alpine), Daniel Ricciardo (RB), Valtteri Bottas (Sauber) and Lance Stroll (Aston Martin).

Belgian GP Q2 results: Verstappen fastest from Hamilton

Cla   Nº   Driver   Car / Engine   Time   Delay   Laps 
1 Max Verstappen Red Bull/Honda RBPT 1'53.837   7
44 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1'54.037 0.200 8
63 George Russell Mercedes 1'54.095 0.258 8
55 Carlos Sainz Ferrari 1'54.112 0.275 8
81 Oscar Piastri McLaren/Mercedes 1'54.136 0.299 7
16 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1'54.193 0.356 8
14 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin/Mercedes 1'54.258 0.421 8
4 Lando Norris McLaren/Mercedes 1'54.358 0.521 8
31 Esteban Ocon Alpine/Renault 1'54.460 0.623 8
10  11 Sergio Pérez Red Bull/Honda RBPT 1'54.470 0.633 7
11  23 Alexander Albon Williams/Mercedes 1'54.473 0.636 7
12  10 Pierre Gasly Alpine/Renault 1'54.635 0.798 8
13  3 Daniel Ricciardo RB/Honda RBPT 1'54.682 0.845 6
14  77 Valtteri Bottas Sauber/Ferrari 1'54.764 0.927 8
15  18 Lance Stroll Aston Martin/Mercedes 1'55.716 1.879 8

What happened in Belgian Grand Prix Q3?

On the first runs, Verstappen unleashed 1m53.159s, six tenths clear of the rest led by his team-mate Perez and eight tenths ahead of Hamilton.

On the final runs, Leclerc saved his final set of fresh inters for the closing moments and jumped to second from P8. Verstappen failed to improve on his final run.

Leclerc was 0.595s slower than Verstappen but a hundredth faster than Perez, who will start from the outside of the front row.

Hamilton will start third, ahead of Lando Norris (McLaren), Piastri, George Russell (Mercedes), Carlos Sainz (Ferrari), Fernando Alonso (Aston) and Esteban Ocon (Alpine).

Belgian GP Q3 results: Verstappen fastest but Leclerc gets pole

Cla   Nº   Driver   Car / Engine   Time   Delay   Laps 
1 Max Verstappen Red Bull/Honda RBPT 1'53.159   6
16 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1'53.754 0.595 6
11 Sergio Pérez Red Bull/Honda RBPT 1'53.765 0.606 5
44 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1'53.835 0.676 6
4 Lando Norris McLaren/Mercedes 1'53.981 0.822 6
81 Oscar Piastri McLaren/Mercedes 1'54.027 0.868 7
63 George Russell Mercedes 1'54.184 1.025 6
55 Carlos Sainz Ferrari 1'54.477 1.318 6
14 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin/Mercedes 1'54.765 1.606 6
10  31 Esteban Ocon Alpine/Renault 1'54.810 1.651 6
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