Max Verstappen topped Qualifying for 2022 Belgian Grand Prix as Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz claimed pole position.
Verstappen dominated FP3 and Qualifying but a power unit penalty meant that he and five further drivers will start from the back of grid, in turn meaning that Sainz inherits pole position for the race ahead of Sergio Perez.
Rain meanwhile largely stayed away from the circuit which meant a hectic FP3 as teams played catch-up with their race simulations, whilst Qualifying delivered a mixed grid due to multiple penalties.
Now, here’s a full roundup of FP3 and Qualifying.
FP3
A quiet start saw Lewis Hamilton lead a small number of drivers as everyone opted to focus on race simulations in the opening half-hour, following a disruptive Friday Practice which ultimately saw Sainz lead Charles Leclerc and Guanyu Zhou at the halfway mark of the session.
Attention soon turned to Qualifying simulations in the last 30 minutes of the session as Perez went top with 1m 45.972 in the 32nd minute, whilst his Red Bull teammate – Max Verstappen backed off at the final corner of his first attempt due to a brief yellow flag.
Verstappen however managed to go fastest on his second flier with 1m 45.480 which stood unchallenged as the red flag came out with just around nine minutes left, after Leclerc spun at Campus but continued to the pits under his own power.
Once the session resumed with just three minutes left, everyone frantically dashed out to do one final flying lap, with Perez ultimately emerging quickest with 1m 45.047 to top the session from Verstappen by 0.137 seconds with Sainz rounding out the top three.
Only Haas’ Mick Schumacher failed to set his fastest lap on the soft tyre as he finished slowest and 7.447s off the pace on medium tyres.
| Position | Driver | Team | Time |
| 1 | Sergio Perez | Red Bull | 1m 45.047 |
| 2 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | + 0.137 |
| 3 | Carlos Sainz | Ferrari | + 0.777 |
| 4 | Lando Norris | McLaren | + 0.918 |
| 5 | Fernando Alonso | Alpine | + 1.014 |
| 6 | George Russell | Mercedes | + 1.024 |
| 7 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | + 1.073 |
| 8 | Sebastian Vettel | Aston Martin | + 1.119 |
| 9 | Esteban Ocon | Alpine | + 1.554 |
| 10 | Pierre Gasly | AlphaTauri | + 1.557 |
| 11 | Daniel Ricciardo | McLaren | + 1.599 |
| 12 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | + 1.722 |
| 13 | Nicholas Latifi | Williams | + 1.764 |
| 14 | Alex Albon | Williams | + 1.789 |
| 15 | Valtteri Bottas | Alfa Romeo | + 1.834 |
| 16 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin | + 1.928 |
| 17 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas | + 1.935 |
| 18 | Yuki Tsunoda | AlphaTauri | + 1.988 |
| 19 | Guanyu Zhou | Alfa Romeo | + 2.042 |
| 20 | Mick Schumacher | Haas | + 7.447 |
Qualifying
Q1
Williams’ Nicholas Latifi was first out on track following a 25 minute delay due to barrier repairs after a support race crash, yet he chose to pit at the end of his outlap and Schumacher proceeded to set the immediate benchmark time of 1m 47.929 to beat.
His time however was swiftly bettered by several drivers as Verstappen topped Q1 with 1m 44.581, whilst the bottom five at half-way mark compromised of; Lance Stroll, Latifi, Schumacher, Zhou and Valtteri Bottas.
Once the checkered flag fell, Bottas qualified in last place as Stroll, Schumacher and Zhou all avoided elimination at expense of Sebastian Vettel, Latifi, Kevin Magnussen and Yuki Tsunoda who qualified 16-19th respectively.
Q2
Lewis Hamilton was first out on track and set the initial benchmark time of 1m 46.622 but his time was quickly bettered as Verstappen went fastest with 1m 44.723 ahead of Perez and Sainz in the opening runs, as seven drivers opted to do their opening fliers on used soft tyres.
Once everyone but Ricciardo had completed a lap time in their opening run, the elimination zone at halfway-point compromised of; Albon, Zhou, Stroll, Schumacher and Ricciardo who had opted to do just one run.
As the checkered flag fell, only Albon escaped elimination as Ricciardo qualified 11th ahead of Pierre Gasly, as Zhou, Stroll and Schumacher rounded out the Q2 eliminations.
Q3
Albon was first out on track and set the initial benchmark time of 1m 46.369 but his time was soon bettered as Verstappen set the provisional pole time of 1m 43.665 ahead of Sainz, Perez, Leclerc, Esteban Ocon and Lando Norris who rounded out the top six after opening runs.
Verstappen opted to not do a final run but still topped Qualifying despite taking a grid penalty for a power unit change, meaning that Sainz will start the race from pole position.
Six drivers in total have penalties meaning that the actual grid order stands to be; Sainz, Perez, Alonso, Hamilton, Russell, Albon, Ricciardo, Gasly, Stroll, Vettel, Latifi, Magnussen, Tsunoda, Bottas, Verstappen, Leclerc, Ocon, Norris, Zhou and Schumacher.
| Position | Driver | Team | Time |
| 1 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | 1m 43.665 |
| 2 | Carlos Sainz | Ferrari | + 0.632 |
| 3 | Sergio Perez | Red Bull | + 0.797 |
| 4 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | + 0.888 |
| 5 | Esteban Ocon | Alpine | + 1.515 |
| 6 | Fernando Alonso | Alpine | + 1.703 |
| 7 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | + 1.838 |
| 8 | George Russell | Mercedes | + 2.111 |
| 9 | Alex Albon | Williams | + 2.172 |
| 10 | Lando Norris | McLaren | + 2.513 |
| 11 | Daniel Ricciardo | McLaren | 1m 45.767 |
| 12 | Pierre Gasly | AlphaTauri | + 0.060 |
| 13 | Guanyu Zhou | Alfa Romeo | + 0.318 |
| 14 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin | + 0.844 |
| 15 | Mick Schumacher | Haas | + 1.951 |
| 16 | Sebastian Vettel | Aston Martin | 1m 46.344 |
| 17 | Nicholas Latifi | Williams | + 0.057 |
| 18 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas | + 0.213 |
| 19 | Yuki Tsunoda | AlphaTauri | + 0.348 |
| 20 | Valtteri Bottas | Alfa Romeo | + 1.522 |
Leave a Reply