After a 25-minute delay due to barrier damage from a crash in the Porsche Supercup Qualifying session, Q1 for the 2022 Belgian Grand Prix was under way at trhe Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps and Williams’ Nicholas Latifi was the first driver out on the track, in generally dry and overcast conditions. However, the Iranian-Canadian racing driver headed straight back into the pits without setting a time.
Ferrari junior Mick Schumacher set the first time of the session with a 1:47.292. The rest of the drivers were making their way out onto the 7.004 km motor-racing circuit located in Stavelot. Lewis Hamilton and George Russell were some of the first to set a time in Q1 but they were more than a second off the leaders. Red Bull and Ferrari were just behind them and it was Max Verstappen who put himself top with a 1:44.581. Carlos Sainz was second after the first runs, Sergio Perez third and Charles Leclerc fourth. No surprise to see the Red Bull and Ferrari drivers leading the way.
Mercedes went for another lap for both drivers but they struggled again, with George Russell sitting in 10th and Hamilton in 11th. It seems they were struggling with their tyre warm up as the W13 cars were nearly two seconds off the pace of leader Max Verstappen. The top four decided they didn’t need another run at this stage: Max Verstappen, Carlos Sainz, Sergio Perez and Charles Leclerc could put their feet up for the closing stages of Q1.
A great lap from Lance Stroll in the final minutes of Q1 to haul himself out of the elimination zone and into the top 10 on his last lap of the session! No such luck for his Aston Martin team-mate Sebastian Vettel though, who drops into the bottom five. Sebastian Vettel (Aston Martin), Nicholas Latifi (Williams), Kevin Magnussen (Haas), Yuki Tsunoda (Alpha Tauri) and Valtteri Bottas (Alfa Romeo) were out in Q1. After finishing 20th, that confirms that Valterri Bottas will start Sunday’s Grand Prix in 14th. The other six drivers with grid penalties, including Charles, had to fight it out to see what order they will start in at the back of the grid.
A quick break and we were back under way at Spa to decide which ten drivers would go through to the final qualifying session for the Belgian Grand Prix: it is Max Verstappen who was still setting the pace and put in a 1:44.723 with his first flying lap of Q2. His teammate Perez was just behind him with Carlos Sainz in third. George Russell and Lewis Hamilton set times of their own but they were more than a second still off the front of the pack.
Show your support for Scuderia Ferrari with official merchandise collection from Puma! Enter the online Puma Store and shop securely! And get your F1 tickets for every race with VIP hospitality and unparalleled insider access. Click here for the best offers to support Charles and Carlos from the track!
Charles Leclerc had some feedback for the Ferrari garage and he wasn’t happy with how his F1-75 car was performing in the slow corners at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps: “The car is jumping like crazy in the apex of slow corners. It is very, very strange.”
No worries in the end for the Mercedes duo as they set the fifth and sixth-fastest times respectively. Daniel Ricciardo was out at the last though, alongside Pierre Gasly (Alpha Tauri), Zhou Guanyu (Alfa Romeo), Lance Stroll (Aston Martin) and Mick Schumacher (Haas).
After putting in a great lap at the end of Q2, Alex Albon secured at least 6th on the grid for Sunday’s Grand Prix. The other five drivers who had a chance of starting on the front row were Lewis Hamilton, George Russell, Sergio Perez, Carlos Sainz and Fernando Alonso. And it was then time to decide the top 10 for tomorrow’s Belgian Grand Prix.
Max Verstappen went fastest with a 1:43.665, with Carlos Sainz 0.632 seconds behind him. Of course, the Red Bull driver will have a grid penalty tomorrow which means the Ferrari man was on course for pole. The Dutchman did not come out for one more run after setting the fastest time. He’ll be down the field tomorrow anyway due to that penalty. On the other hand, Charles Leclerc returned to the track but NOT to put in a lap. Rather, he was out there to give his Maranello teammate, Carlos Sainz, a tow.
It was a scrappy final lap from Carlos Sainz which doesn’t see him better Max Verstappen’s time, but the Red Bull driver’s grid penalty means the Ferrari man will be on pole in Belgium.
Here is how the top of the timesheet looks at the end of this Qualifying session:
1) Max Verstappen (Red Bull)
2) Carlos Sainz (Ferrari)
3) Sergio Perez (Red Bull)
4) Charles Leclerc (Ferrari)
5) Esteban Ocon (Alpine)
6) Fernando Alonso (Alpine)
7) Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes)
8) George Russell (Mercedes)
9) Alex Albon (Williams)
10) Lando Norris (McLaren)
Leave a Reply