Daniel Ricciardo’s day came to a “frustrating” early end while Oscar Piastri was left disappointed despite a P6 finish after a wet-dry qualifying for the Belgian Grand Prix.
Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc will start from pole position despite Max Verstappen having set the fastest time in qualifying on Saturday [AEST].
Double world champion Verstappen incurred a five-grid penalty for a change of gearbox on his Red Bull demoting him to sixth for Sunday’s race.
Verstappen’s teammate Sergio Perez will start alongside Leclerc on the front row for the 12th race of the Formula One season.
Verstappen, who leads the championship by 110 points, won at Spa-Francorchamps last year from 14th on the grid.
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Hungarian GP Full Race Highlights | 07:02
“Last year we had lots of penalties and I still won the race so that will be the aim again,” said the Belgian-born Dutch driver.
Leclerc, eight-tenths of a second slower than Verstappen, said: “Not a bad qualifying for us, especially in those conditions.
“We went a bit too early for that last run but we could have been a bit closer. Having said that, we have a great starting position for Sunday and let’s see how it goes.”
Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton and Carlos Sainz in the other Ferrari occupy the second row.
McLaren’s Oscar Piastri and Verstappen come next, with Lando Norris (McLaren), George Russell (Mercedes) and Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll in the Aston Martins rounding out the top 10.
Australian Piastri admitted post-qualifying in an interview with F1.com that he was “almost a little bit disappointed” with the result given his success in the past two weekends of racing.
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“We were having a very, very strong session,” he said.
“Maybe the last part wasn’t amazing, I think as the track dried, it was getting more back to normal let’s say, but that’s not normal for me because I’ve never done a lap in an F1 car here.
“So I think I was just lacking a bit of confidence at the end to push.”
“I felt very comfortable when the conditions were really tricky like that,” Piastri added, referencing his earlier success in FP1 during wet conditions.
“I think in some ways, the track drying up and becoming closer to normal was a hindrance.
“So for breaking points and stuff like that, especially when offline, it’s wet, you never want to brake too late.
“That’s where I left quite a bit on the table, unfortunately.”
Teammate Norris, meanwhile, ran into plenty of problems in qualifying after he “completely destroyed the floor” of his McLaren in qualifying.
Norris ended up finishing seventh behind Piastri, a strong result given the damage his car sustained after the Brit went off the track in Q1 and through the gravel.
“I went off in Q1 and completely destroyed the floor, so I’m happy to have made it to Q3 and only be a couple of tenths off what Oscar did,” Norris told Sky Sports F1.
“I think he did a good job. His middle sector was very strong. We were very poor in the straights.
“There’s wins and losses, but I’m happy. It could have been a lot worse, I could have been out in Q1, so I’ll take P7.”
Ricciardo, meanwhile, had initially gone sixth-fastest in promising signs for the Australian but he was later eliminated in Q1 for exceeding track limits at Raidillon.
The mistake meant Ricciardo will instead line up 19th on the grid, with the 34-year-old explaining what went wrong in a post-qualifying interview with F1.com.
“It’s frustrating of course,” Ricciardo said.
“I knew I basically tried to Eau Rouge flat. I thought it was possible and I just felt I was drifting off the good line and I had to lift to just stay on track and it was just drifting, drifting.
“As soon as I got over that turn four kerb where they said I did track limits, I knew it was probably over. Obviously I tried to put it behind me and keep going on with the lap… but in the end it’s frustrating when you did a track limits and lose time.
“I felt comfortable enough and if given a chance in Q2 we could have kept chipping away at it. Disappointing outcome but I think we’ll work it out nicely.”
While an early end to Ricciardo’s day, the Australian is not losing sight of the “big picture” given he has only had limited time in his Scuderia AlphaTauri and is fast improving.
“It’s encouraging, it obviously hurts for Sunday but we’ve got another chance tomorrow to put it behind me,” Ricciardo said.
“There’s a lot to still be encouraged by. I don’t like making mistakes but big picture we’re doing OK.”
Ricciardo buoyant after first race back | 01:18
Saturday features the third sprint race of the F1 season after Azerbaijan and Austria, with qualifying for the standalone race scheduled for Saturday morning at the majestic Ardennes circuit.
Verstappen’s penalty does not apply to the sprint.
The Red Bull ace was lucky to squeeze into the third qualifying session with a late lap to climb to 10th in Q2 and admitted he had battled the drying conditions throughout the session.
“It was very tight. The conditions were really tricky and on my final lap in Q2 I didn’t have that confidence to push, but in Q3 we had two tyre sets so we had more chance to push,” he reported.
Verstappen will be seeking to reel off his eighth consecutive win this year. Both Leclerc and Perez expressed some relief at surviving the session successfully following earlier suggestions that it was possible qualifying might be cancelled if the weather had made it dangerous to race on the track.
After a rain-hit practice session earlier in the day, qualifying took place in improved conditions after a delayed start.
The conditions remained inconsistent and treacherous in part and it was little surprise when Esteban Ocon slapped the barriers at Turn Nine in Q2, breaking part of his Alpine’s front wing, as the times tumbled.
Commentators heap praise on Piastri | 01:00
Hamilton, Russell, Norris, Yuki Tsunoda of Alpha Tauri and Piastri all topped the times in the final frantic minutes as Verstappen was pushed out to 11th, recovering to wind up 10th and squeeze through to the shootout.
Tsunoda ended up 11th and out along with Alpine’s Pierre Gasly, Kevin Magnussen of Haas, Alfa Romeo’s Bottas and Ocon.
After clearing up the debris from Ocon’s broken wing, the top-ten shootout began with Alonso leading a 10-car train of pairs of cars from the top five teams.
On their first runs, it was Leclerc on top ahead of Verstappen with Sainz third in the second Ferrari and the two McLarens. Hamilton and Russell did additional laps to improve to sixth and ninth.
Leclerc set the pace with a quick turn in 1:46.988, leaving Sainz and Piastri to go second and third initially before Verstappen blasted to the top in 1:46.168, by eight-tenths – a stunning lap.
BELGIAN GRAND PRIX GRID
(NB: Max Verstappen set the fastest time but starts from sixth after a five-place penalty for a change of gearbox on his Red Bull car for the 12th race of the Formula One season)
Front row: Charles Leclerc (MON/Ferrari) Sergio Perez (MEX/Red Bull)
2nd row: Lewis Hamilton (GBR/Mercedes) Carlos Sainz (ESP/Ferrari)
3rd row: Oscar Piastri (AUS/McLaren-Mercedes) Max Verstappen (NED/Red Bull)
4th row: Lando Norris (GBR/McLaren-Mercedes) George Russell (GBR/Mercedes)
5th row: Fernando Alonso (ESP/Aston Martin-Mercedes) Lance Stroll (CAN/Aston Martin-Mercedes)
6th row: Yuki Tsunoda (JPN/AlphaTauri-Red Bull) Pierre Gasly (FRA/Alpine-Renault)
7th row: Kevin Magnussen (DEN/Haas-Ferrari) Valtteri Bottas (FIN/Alfa Romeo-Ferrari )
8th row: Esteban Ocon (FRA/Alpine-Renault) Alex Albon (THA/Williams-Mercedes)
9th row: Zhou Guanyu (CHN/Alfa Romeo-Ferrari) Logan Sargeant (USA/Williams-Mercedes)
10th row: Daniel Ricciardo (AUS/AlphaTauri-Red Bull) Nico Hulkenberg (GER/Haas-Ferrari)