Williams (with George Russell) grabbed its first front-row position in twenty years.
SPA-FRANCORCHAMPS, Belgium—This famous circuit is known for its rainy and changing conditions. However, following a late start and a red flag session that took 20 minutes to clean up, Max Verstappen found enough determination Saturday to take pole for Sunday’s Belgian Grand Prix. He recorded a last-minute 1:59:765 ahead of the surprising George Russell. Lewis Hamilton finished in third.
Russell made it into the final session for the third time, and it was the first time since 2001 (in Italy) that a Williams driver is on the first row. “I’m absolutely buzzing,” Russell exclaimed. “Tomorrow’s the most important one, but it’s been mega today.”
Verstappen finished his final flying lap just seconds following Russell’s best time, and Hamilton could not beat either driver. The season leader from Britain struggled with tire grip due to the wet conditions, which increased in the final qualifying session. “It has been a challenging day for everyone,” Hamilton remarked after finishing his day. “Max (Verstappen) did a great job and a great job also by George (Russell). That’s fantastic.”
On the flip side, rain was a good luck charm for McLaren, driven by Daniel Ricciardo, who ended up fourth. Sabastian Vettel (Aston Martin) finished fifth. Pierre Gasly continued to be stable in placing his Alpha Tauri in the sixth, while Red Bull’s Sergio Perez finished seventh. Esteban Ocon, fresh from his win in Hungary, took eighth in his Alpine with Lando Norris (McLaren) and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, ending up ninth and tenth, respectively.
Max Verstappen: We are first, and that’s the most important thing. It’s an amazing track to drive and very difficult in the wet. I’m super happy to qualify like this after the break.
Today it was all about dealing with rain. As the opening session began, the track began to dry quickly when all the drivers who began on wets suddenly realized they had the wrong tire choice and returned to the pits for intermediates. The marshals sent out a message five minutes before the drivers could appear on the circuit. But the weather flip-flop took its toll. Both Haas cars of Nikita Mazepin and Mick Schumacher, the Alfa Romeo duo of Kimi Raikkonen and Antonio Giovinazzi, and Alpha Tauri’s Yuki Tsunoda were out of the first round. As the rain continued to subside, Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz Jr., Fernando Alonso in the Alpine, Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll, and Williams Nickolas Latifi failed to qualify for the final round.
Rain returned as the final round approached. This time it was the heaviest of the day and not without consequence.
Norris was the first out of the pits, and as soon as the Briton approached Eau Rouge, the oversteer was too much. Norris crashed and spun his car all over the track, and throwing debris everywhere. Vettel was the first driver to check on Norris. The McLaren driver slowly got out of the car and was taken to the track hospital to evaluate a possible elbow injury.
The red flag immediately came out with 8:59 remaining and, for the next 20 minutes, marshals cleaned up that part of the circuit until qualifying could resume at 1645 local time.
Weather is also predicted to be a factor on race day. Watch it live at 9a U.S. Eastern Time on ESPN2.
