Rainy qualifying sets up stormy race in Belgium
- Damian Hall
- Jul 27, 2024
- 2 min read
27th July 2024
Sir Lewis Hamilton starts 3rd after Verstappen takes 10-Place grid Penalty while Perez delivers
The qualifying session at the Belgian Grand Prix was anything but straightforward, with persistent rain creating tricky conditions on the track and upsetting the usual order, writes Damian Hall.
While Red Bull’s Max Verstappen set the fastest time of 1:53.159, teammate Sergio Perez, whose job was on the line after a recent slew of poor performances, finally delivered with a time 0.606 off the pace, which was good enough for 3rd. This has now been converted to 2nd place due to Verstappen’s 10-place grid penalty for exceeding his quota of engines this season.
A relieved sounding Perez said post-session: “It was very tricky at times obviously, you know, in these conditions it’s easy [for things] to go wrong. It was good to finally put it together. It’s a very long race ahead, I have a pretty good feeling for tomorrow so we’ll see.”
Despite an impressive qualifying, Verstappen will start from 11th in tomorrow’s race at Spa-Francorchamps. The three-time world champion said his focus was on being “quick in the dry tomorrow”.
Red Bull reportedly opted to take the new engine and the penalty at this circuit because of its long laps and numerous overtaking opportunities. This gives Verstappen a higher probability of making his way back to the front using the advantage of a new engine and the already superior design of the Red Bull.
After qualifying, Verstappen said of the machine: “The car was working quite well in the wet. I hope we will be in the mix to move forward tomorrow. The race can be lost in turn one; we just need to see what happens at the start and go from there. It’s a very long race, we need to be quick in the dry tomorrow.”
Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc inherited 1st with a time .595 off the pace. The Monagasque seemed pleasantly surprised with the result after the messy session. He said: “I definitely did not expect that this weekend with the tricky conditions. It’s a good day for the team and we need to focus on tomorrow. It’s good to be back on the front part of the grid but now we have to finalize that tomorrow.”
Sir Lewis Hamilton will start the race from 3rd, with his Mercedes teammate George Russell starting from 6th after a nail-biting moment during the second session (Q2) where both drivers impressively clawed their way out of the elimination zone with the 2nd and 3rd fastest times of the session, respectively.
With dry weather conditions predicted for the race tomorrow, drivers who struggled today could very well shine, setting the stage for an exciting race as they make their way up through the field.
Hamilton has a prime opportunity to capitalise on the chaos, while Verstappen will be on a mission to slice through the field. All eyes will be on the first corner and the strategies that unfold from there.
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