Belgian Grand Prix

LIVE from 4 p.m.: Who will win qualifying for the Spa GP?

Charles Leclerc

(Bild: Associated Press)

Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc secured pole position for the Formula 1 World Championship race in Belgium on Saturday in Spa! On a partially wet track, Max Verstappen in the Red Bull was clearly the fastest, but the world champion was relegated ten places down the grid due to a premature engine change. The heavily criticized Sergio Perez in the second Red Bull followed in third place.

Verstappen was 0.595 seconds faster than Leclerc and 0.606 ahead of Perez. "Can we call that pole, somehow, here again?" Verstappen jokingly asked his crew, laughing. Lewis Hamilton finished fourth, followed by the two McLaren cars of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri. The 14th Grand Prix of the year will be held on Sunday (3pm).

"I don't know how fast we'll be!"
"The car worked quite well in the wet, so I could just do my laps. Tomorrow is a different day, warmer, no rain," explained Verstappen, who will start the race from eleventh on the grid. "I don't know how fast we'll be, but I hope we can be in the mix. The race can be lost in turn one, so I'll just have to see what happens."

Here is the final standings:

"The rain helped us, but I'm not complaining!"
Leclerc said he "definitely didn't expect to achieve anything above our expectations this weekend in the difficult conditions. Without the rain, P5 was the position we were fighting for with the Mercedes - the rain helped us, but I don't want to complain. I'm really happy."

The Monegasque was already pole man at Spa last year, when Verstappen, who was fastest in qualifying, also missed out on a five-place grid penalty. This year, he was able to celebrate the 25th pole position of his career. Verstappen continues to lead the championship standings by a comfortable 76 points ahead of Norris. Leclerc is third, 103 points behind Verstappen.

Here is the standings in the drivers' championship:

"It was good that it finally worked out!"
"It was good that it finally worked out," said the Mexican Perez with relief. "Unfortunately, we didn't have any new tires in Q3." He had always said that "every weekend is a new chance to improve". Those responsible at Red Bull want to decide on Perez's immediate future next Monday, as Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko also confirmed.

Verstappen set the fastest time in the final practice session, which was already rainy. In difficult conditions, the drivers only completed a few laps. After just twelve minutes, the session on the slippery tarmac was temporarily interrupted after Lance Stroll in the Aston Martin crashed into the track barrier and demolished the front suspension. However, the Canadian was able to get out of his car on his own.