Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc starts on pole for Belgian Grand Prix
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Ferrari's Charles Leclerc during qualifying for the Belgian Grand Prix, where he took pole position at the expense of Red Bull's Max Verstappen.
REUTERS
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SPA-FRANCORCHAMPS – Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc said he had the rain to thank after he took pole position on July 27 for the Belgian Grand Prix, where Red Bull’s Max Verstappen was nearly 0.6 of a second ahead but is on a 10-place grid penalty for taking on a fifth engine.
The latter’s penalty means that the Formula One championship leader and three-time world champion will start in 11th spot.
“It’s good. I definitely did not expect that this weekend. Without this rain, probably P5 was the position we were fighting for. But with the rain it helped us a little bit, and I’m not going to complain,” said Leclerc.
“I’m really happy, I’m really happy with the lap in Q3, and it’s good to be back on the front part of the grid. Now we’ve got to finalise that tomorrow.
“It’s not the easiest first place to keep on the first lap here, but once in the car tomorrow I will see what the best thing is that I can do. Obviously I’ll try to keep that first place.”
Ferrari have experienced a tough period since Leclerc won the Monaco Grand Prix in late May.
It was unclear if the 26-year-old believed that other drivers struggled in the rain, or that he simply felt that he could excel in the wet conditions – or even a combination of both.
Regardless, he would be glad to be on pole.
Verstappen is mired in a modest three-race winless drought, but would be optimistic that he can close the gap considering that nobody was faster than him in qualifying.
Joining Leclerc in the front row is Red Bull’s Sergio Perez, with Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton and McLaren’s Lando Norris in the second row.
“It was very tricky, at times. As always in these conditions, it’s so easy for it to go wrong, but it was good to finally put it together,” said Perez.
“It’s a long race ahead of us. It looks like it’s going to be dry, so we’ll see.
“Like I’ve always said, every weekend is a new opportunity to do better, every day. Tomorrow is a new opportunity for us to do even better than today and go for that win.”
Starting fifth is Norris’ Australian teammate Oscar Piastri, who won the previous race in Hungary, ahead of Mercedes’ George Russell, Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz, Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso, Alpine’s Esteban Ocon and Williams’ Alexander Albon.
All the drivers were bumped up a spot thanks to Verstappen’s penalty.
“I know that I have to start 10 places back so this was the best I could do today, and I go from there,” he said.
“I don’t know how quick we’re going to be. I hope that we can be in the mix to try to move forward. The race can be lost at Turn 1, so just need to see what happens at the start, hopefully we can be competitive tomorrow.”
Ahead of the main race on July 28, Verstappen leads the drivers’ standings on 265 points, ahead of Norris (189) and Leclerc (162).
Red Bull are leading the constructors’ standings on 389 points, McLaren (338) are second and Ferrari (322) third.
There are 10 races to go after Belgium. AFP, REUTERS
