Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz will begin Sunday’s Belgian Grand Prix from the entrance of the grid regardless of Max Verstappen obliterating the sector in qualifying.
World champion Verstappen took pole place by virtually seven tenths, however he will probably be relegated to fifteenth after serving a penalty for an engine change.
Leclerc, who trails Verstappen by 80 factors and can be penalised after taking up a brand new energy unit on Formula One’s return to motion following the summer time break, is demoted from fourth to sixteenth.
Sergio Perez strikes as much as second. Despite the penalties for Verstappen and Leclerc, Lewis Hamilton and George Russell will begin solely fourth and fifth respectively.
Hamilton completed an eye-watering 1.8 seconds down on Verstappen, with team-mate Russell three tenths again. Hamilton might need thought the plethora of grid penalties would supply him along with his finest shot of ending a shedding streak which stretches again to the penultimate spherical of final season in Saudi Arabia.
But the seven-time world champion has not been in the identical publish code because the front-runners this weekend, with Red Bull and Ferrari holding a major edge over the Silver Arrows. And to make issues worse for each Hamilton and Russell, the Alpine duo of Esteban Ocon and Fernando Alonso additionally certified forward of them. Ocon may even be thrown to the again of the pack for engine penalties.
After he crossed the road, Hamilton was knowledgeable he had certified solely seventh. “How far are we off?” he mentioned. His race engineer, Peter Bonnington replied: “1.8 seconds to Verstappen.” A disbelieving Hamilton repeated the time again.
Verstappen, the person who denied Hamilton an eight title in controversial trend final season, has been in imperious kind this 12 months – profitable eight of the 13 rounds. And regardless of his penalty, the Dutchman’s pace over one lap, suggests he might but turn into a serious participant in Sunday’s race.
Leclerc’s problem has faltered by errors by man and machine. Here, the Monegasque’s blundering Ferrari crew despatched him out on the flawed rubber for his opening run in Q3.
“What are these tyres,” mentioned a confused Leclerc. “Sorry, it is a mistake,” got here the response.
Elsewhere, the London-born Alex Albon continues to impress. He hauled his Williams into Q3 for the primary time this 12 months, qualifying ninth, earlier than being bumped as much as sixth on the grid.
Sebastian Vettel missed out on Q2 by two thousandths of a second. “No f****** way,” mentioned the four-time world champion who will name time on his profession on the finish of the season.
However, Vettel will benefit from the copious penalties to maneuver as much as tenth on the grid. Lando Norris completed tenth, however is one in all seven drivers to serve a grid sanction right here for exceeding the variety of allotted engine elements. He traces up 18th.
Source: www.unbiased.co.uk