Max Verstappen fastest in Spa qualifying: 'Very happy'

Published on 27 July 2024 by Florence Cobben

Max Verstappen was master and commander at the Belgian Grand Prix qualifying. On the wet track, Max set the fastest time. With a 1:53.159 time, he was 6-tenths of a second faster than Charles Leclerc in P2. Max, however, will be starting from P11 tomorrow due to a ten-place grid penalty for replacing the engine in his car. Therefore 11th place was the best possible result for the three time world champion. His Oracle Red Bull Racing-teammate Sergio Perez was third fastest, placing him next to Charles Leclerc on the front row.

After his winning lap, Max debriefs: "It was a nice qualifying. Luckily the weather was okay, it was just raining a little bit. But at least we could do the qualifing. Everything worked well, every tyre that we were on we could just do a good lap time. I was of course thinking about Q3, not knowing if it was going to dry out (then), so I was trying to keep two new sets for Q3, and luckily we (got away) with it in Q1 and Q2. So (I'm) very happy, the car was working quite well in the wet. I could just do my laps, and then try to do as many lap times in the wet (as possible), which is also quite tricky. "

In spite of his fast lap on the wet track, Max sees a difficult road ahead, starting from P11: "Tomorrow is going to be a different day. It's going to be warmer, normally (there's) no rain, so (it'll all be about) tyre degradation. We need to make sure we're good on that. I know that, of course, I start ten places back, so this was the best I could do today. I'll go from there. I don't know how quick we're gonna be, I hope we'll be in the mix, and then try to move forward."

Max elaborates further: "We're not making it easy on ourselves, and especially in the battle that we're in. I know that today was a great day, but it's in the wet. We need to be quick in the dry tomorrow. It's going to be a tough battle. We'll try to do the best we can, hopefully we can battle the Ferraris and the Mercedes ahead, and with a bit of luck we can challange McLaren."

Max knows at the start of qualifying already that he will be handed a 10-place grid penalty. The team announced on Friday that Max needed to install a fifth engine, but per driver only four engine switches are allowed all season. This means an automatic ten place penalty. After a completely submerged third free practice, the drivers luckily have a comparatively much drier qualifying to look forward to on the Spa-Francochamps track. The drivers take to the drying track on intermediates; they anticipate more rain near the end of the session, so a long queue forms in the pit lane, with each driver itching to get a time in before conditions worsen. 

Max sets a blisteringly fast time of 1:56.003 in his first flying lap, putting him 1.4 seconds ahead of Oscar Piastri on P2. The track continues to dry, meaning lap times are getting faster and faster. Max improves his time to 1:54.938, defending his first place. All the drivers head into the pits for a fresh set of intermediates, while Max keeps lapping on his old set. Piastri and Gasly manage to improve on Max's time, demoting him to third place. 15 drivers carry on to Q2, benefitting from the early exits of: Nico Hulkenberg (P16), Kevin Magnussen (P17), Yuki Tsunoda (P18), Logan Sargeant (P19) and Zhou Guanyu (P20).

In Q2, the drivers once more head out on intermediates. Max drives another breakneck lap of 1:53.857, which he later sharpens by another two-hundredths. The rest of the drivers eat their hearts out trying to beat Max's time, in spite of the fact the track keeps improving. Max closes the Q2 session in P1, two-hundreths faster than the two Mercedes, Lewis Hamilton and George Russell, respectively. The losers of this qualifying session are: Alexander Albon (P11), Pierre Gasly (P12), Daniel Ricciardo (P13), Valtteri Bottas (P14) and Lance Stroll (P15).

At the start of Q3 the drivers are once again heading out on intermediates. The remaining nine drivers immediately head out on track, but Max stalls for another minute-and-a-half minutes before also taking to the asphalt. Max sets a 1:53.159 time, putting him 6-tenths ahead of teammate Sergio Perez in P2. Hamilton is just behind in P3, followed by Piastri in P4. The drivers prepare for their last run: childhood rival Charles Leclerc joins Max at the top of the timesheets in P2, while the other drivers fail to improve their times. This means Max ends the session with the fastest time. However, due to his penalty he will start tomorrow in P11. Charles Leclerc, almost six-tenths of a second slower than Max, stands to benefit and takes pole. Sergio Perez will join Charles on the front row in P2. Lewis Hamilton is promoted from P4 to P3, followed by the McLarens of Norris and Piastri. George Russell, who went seventh fastest, will start in P6, followed by Carlos Sainz, Fernando Alonso and Esteban Ocon, completing the top ten. 

The race will start Sunday at 15:00.

Contest Belgian GP: win a by Max Verstappen signed Verstappen.com Racing cap!

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