Belgian GP: Qualifying Russell second for Williams Racing

Team Summary:
Qualifying for the 2021 Belgian Grand Prix would see a delayed start with the teams under a five minute warning for the start of the session. With the start of the session both Williams were seen waiting at the end of the pit lane. The majority were on the full wet tyre but both Williams cars were on the intermediate. The first times would come in with Gasly fastest with a 2m:10.881 with Hamilton second followed now by George. Perez was now quickest but George would move ahead to be quickest with Nicholas second. George had set a 2m:02.068 as more drivers started to pit and return on intermediate tyres. Ocon on the intermediate was now third followed by Norris, Verstappen, Bottas, Stroll, Vettel, Hamilton and Alonso tenth. Sainz would move to the top of the times with a 2m:02.057 but we would see Perez then Ricciardo and then Leclerc go quicker.

Norris was now quickest with a 1m:58.776 followed by Verstappen, Russell, Hamilton, Gasly and Leclerc seventh. Bottas was now eighth with the Williams drivers now third and 14th. As the session drew to a close Hamilton was second followed by Verstappen, Bottas, George, Gasly, Perez, Leclerc, Nicholas and Sainz tenth. Verstappe3n would improve to be quickest with a 1m:58.717 but Norris would move ahead with a 1m:58.301. the Williams pair were now fourth and ninth as the last laps were completed. This would become fifth and tenth. the top ten was Norris from Verstappen, Hamilton, Perez, George, Bottas, Vettel, Gasly, Leclerc, and Nicholas. A fantastic effort from Williams Racing.

The top fifteen cars were all out using new intermediate tyres including both Williams cars, all except Mercedes who were on used. But they would pit changing to new tyres. As times were set Norris was fastest with a 1m:57.235 followed by Gasly and George. But Verstappen would move into second now followed by Vettel, Gasly, Perez, Leclerc, Stroll, George, Ricciardo, and Sainz tenth. Both Alpines and Mercedes were outside the top ten. Hamilton was seventh dropping to eighth and Ricciardo now into fifth. Verstappen was now quickest with a 1m:56.559 followed by Norris and Perez, Leclerc, Vettel, Gasly, Ricciardo, Sainz, Stroll and George in tenth with two and a half minutes remaining.

The final runs were coming from all fifteen drivers as Vettel went second as the final runs were completed as he had Hamilton second followed by Bottas, Gasly, Verstappen, Vettel, Perez, George, Ricciardo, and Ocon tenth. The Williams drivers would finish Q2 in eighth and 12th. With the start of Q3 the rain was now starting to fall more seeing some drivers come out on the full wet tyre. For Williams George was still on the intermediate tyre but the session would be Red Flagged as a result of a big crash from Norris coming through Eau Rouge. His car would spin into the barrier at the left and end up in the middle of the track. Norris was able to get out of his car and would be taken for medical checks. After a lengthy delay the session would be restarted.

Ocon would be first out using the full wet tyre. he would be joined by George also using the full wet tyre. But Ocon would pit changing to the intermediate. George would also pit changing to the intermediate. Only nine cars were now running as Hamilton set a 2m:01.552 to be quickest. Bottas was second followed by Vettel. But Verstappen would move into second seeing Vettel fourth but Perez was able to move into second. But in a surprise George would go quickest with 2m:00.086 to be on pole but Verstappen would move ahead with a 1m:589.765. With the end of the period Hamilton was third followed by Ricciardo, Vettel, Gasly, Perez, Bottas, Ocon, and Norris given his crash did not set a time.

George Russell:
George would follow team-mate Nicholas out also on the intermediate tyre. But his lap would be ruined by his team-mate spinning seeing a yellow flag seeing him slow. He would set a 2m:11.727 to be third but would drop down the times to be seventh. He would set a 2m:02.068 to be fastest. George would pit and would return again on the intermediate tyres. He was on a quick lap to set a 2m:00.035 to be quickest but would drop down to third. Into Q2 and he would set a 1m:58.968 to be third dropping to sixth. This would become eighth. But a 1m:58.299 would see George now sixth. This would become ninth as he pitted to change tyres coming back out on used intermediate tyres. A 1m:56.950 would see George sixth but would drop to eighth. Now been in Q3 he would return to the track after the Red Flag restart using the full wet but would pit changing to the intermediate. But his first lap was a 2m:08.059 to be ninth fastest. But George was on a quick second lap and would go quickest with a 2m:00.086 but Verstappen would move ahead seeing George second. An amazing result from George.

George was interviewed after the session and would say: "An amazing feeling we did not expect to be starting off the front row ... I had a really good feeling even from lap one ... I want to be fighting for pole every single week ... I knew it was a good lap ... I could afford to put everything on the line ... qualifying is over race is tomorrow and we have to make sure we have a good one."

In post session interviews Jost Capito would comment: "I can't believe it yet .. I think we worked a lot on the strategy and Q3 we didn't have anything to lose ... we know George can do it ... just an incredible performance ... we had very good weather information ... Going into the summer break with points was the best result ... if we want to keep position 8th we need more points".

Nicholas Latifi:
Nicholas was first at the pit exit using the intermediate tyre. But for Nicholas it would go wrong as he would spin but was able to continue. He would set a 2m:05.109 to be second. He would improve with a 2m:02.737 to be 0.669 behind his team-mate. Nicholas would also pit return on intermediates. He would drop to eighth then 14th but with a 2m:00.966 would see him sixth. he would drop to eighth. In Q2 Nicholas would set a 1m:59.362 to be briefly quickest. But he would quickly drop to 13th. he would pit after a five lap run return on another set of intermediates. he would set a 1m:58.056 to be seventh dropping to eighth. This would become 12th and he was out of qualifying but still achieved a Q2 result. He will start the race from 11th as a result of other driver penalties.