|
History repeats
itself. Max Verstappen was quickest in qualifying for the Belgian Grand Prix
(1’53”159 in Q3), but it’s a Ferrari driver who will start at the head of
the field from pole position tomorrow. The same situation occurred in the
previous two years, when the Dutchman was quickest in Q3 – by 632
thousandths from Sainz in 2022 and by 820 from Leclerc in 2023 – but had to
give up those pole positions to the two Ferrari drivers because of having
exceeded the permitted number of complete power units the first time and
gearboxes the second. And that was the case this year, as the three time
world champion was by the far the quickest in Q3 (1’53”159) almost six
tenths quicker than Leclerc (1’53”754) who will lead the field away tomorrow
afternoon. This year, Verstappen picked up a ten place grid penalty for
using his fifth internal combustion engine of the season, one more than
permitted in the regulations. However, the coincidences do not end there.
Not only is a Ferrari driver on pole for a third consecutive year, but the
next two drivers on the grid are in the same positions they occupied in
2023: Red Bull’s Sergio Perez starts from second on the front row, having
set the third fastest time of 1’53”765, while Lewis Hamilton (1’53”835) is
third on the grid, just as he was last year, while back in 2022 he was
fourth.
This is Leclerc’s 25th pole position, the third at this track, following on
from last year and 2019. It is his second this season after Monaco and it is
Ferrari’s 251st pole, the 17th at this Grand Prix.
THE DAY ON
TRACK
The third free practice session was affected by rain that began to fall
around twenty minutes before the green light. Then came a red flag after ten
minutes when Stroll crashed and that pretty much signalled the end of the
session, which up to that point had seen almost all drivers run with
intermediate tyres, the only exceptions being the two Sauber drivers who did
their first lap on the Extreme Wet. The Race Director then declared the
track open with two minutes remaining, just so that the drivers could do
their practice starts.
Qualifying took place from start to finish on a wet track, even if the rain
only fell intermittently and not on the entire track. Therefore what made
the difference was driver skill in very low grip conditions, as well as
their management of the intermediate tyres as each driver had four new sets
available: the only driver of those who got to Q3 who able to do four runs
always using a new set was Verstappen, while all the others had to do at
least one run on a used set.
Max Verstappen was presented with the Pirelli Pole Position Award by Damon
Hill, the 1996 World Champion at the wheel of a Renault-powered Williams. He
raced in Formula 1 from 1992 to 1999, driving for – in chronological order –
Brabham, Williams, Arrows and Jordan. Apart from his title, his palmares
features 22 wins, 20 pole positions, 19 fastest race laps and 42 podium
finishes. The Belgian Grand Prix is actually the race where Damon enjoyed
the most success, winning in 1993 and 1994 with Williams and then in 1998
with Jordan, that win being his final appearance on the podium. |
|
MARIO ISOLA - HEAD OF F1 AND CAR RACING
“Today was another example of how changeable the weather can be here in Spa!
In fact, we and the teams were expecting rain to be the feature of Saturday,
which meant that the data acquired yesterday will be vital in deciding the
best strategy for tomorrow’s race, which regardless of the peculiarities of
the Belgian summer, should take place on a dry track.
Compared to last year, the new track surface has now shifted the balance
significantly towards a two-stop strategy. It also means that the hardest
tyre here, the C2, is now much more suitable for the race than it was twelve
months ago, to the detriment of the softest C4. However, all three compounds
are still perfectly viable, also because only four teams – Ferrari, McLaren,
Mercedes and Alpine – have two sets of Hards available.
On paper, the fastest strategy is to run the first stint on the Medium
before doing a double stint on the Hard. The logical alternative is to go
Medium/Hard/Medium but the Soft/Hard/Hard and Soft/Hard/Medium options
cannot be ruled out. The one-stop is too slow, while the three-stop, even on
a track where overtaking is definitely possible is, at least according to
simulations, not faster. A further consideration is that the set-up choices
made today remain the same for tomorrow, given that the cars in are in parc
ferme and that could also change the balance of power seen in qualifying.
It’s worth noting that in qualifying run on a wet track and over seven
kilometres, the top six drivers on the grid are all covered by just 430
thousandths. Of course there’s one driver who finished Q3 almost six tenths
ahead of the rest, but he goes by the name of Max Verstappen…"
FORMULA 2
A complicated day for Formula 2 with the Sprint Race postponed until after
Formula 1 qualifying because of rain. It eventually started on a wet track
and then stopped after eight of the scheduled 18 laps and was not restarted.
First when the red flag was waved was Zak O’Sullivan (ART Grand Prix), who
crossed the line ahead of Dennis Hauger (MP Motorsport) and Richard
Verschoor (Trident), and they duly stood on those steps of the podium.
FORMULA 3
A one-two finish in the Sprint race for the PREMA team with Dino Beganovic
regaining the lead he lost at the start to team-mate Gabriele Minì on lap 4.
The pair fought for almost all twelve laps and the gap only ever grew to
over a second on the final lap. On the third step of the podium was Mexico’s
Noel Leon (Van Amersfoort Racing), who passed Germany’s Tim Tramnitz (MP
Motorsport) on the last lap. The race was run a track that was still damp
from overnight rain, although the surface gradually dried and, as a result,
the lap times improved from then on. |
