Verstappen, Russell Claim Front Row In Qualifying On Drenched Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps

Photo Credit: Charles Coates/LAT Images/Pirelli

The duet performance of 20 high-performance turbocharged gasoline and an electric power unit takes to the stage at Belgium’s Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps after nearly a month-long hiatus. A favourite track among Formula 1 drivers and fans, the 20-turn, 7.004-kilometer (4.352-mile) race track is a venue many would like to claim victory. Spa-Francorchamps is also known for being tricky and potentially dangerous place to compete. A six-car accident in qualifying for the W Series companion event on the Belgian Grand Prix weekend highlighted the course’s fast and challenging Eau Rouge section. Formula 1 cars’ Saturday qualifying combined the element of rain showers reducing the predictability of grip on the track surface and would contribute to some major surprises for setting the grid for the 44-lap main event on Sunday.

With the conclusion of the Q1 and Q2 in qualifying at Spa-Francorchamps, Brit Lando Norris was at the top of the time sheets driving his #4 McLaren-Mercedes. His Q2 fastest time of 1-minute, 0.25 seconds on intermediate Pirelli tires would be the quickest time in all of the time trials deciding the Belgian Grand Prix grid layout as rain intensified ahead of Q3.

Even as drivers and teams turned to wet weather tires, the downpour left caused a great deal of concern in the Formula 1 paddock as large amounts of standing water accumulated on the track. The Eau Rouge portion of Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps was a particular worry that would ultimately be justified by a major crash.

With nine minutes remaining in the final qualifying session, the fastest driver for the day on intermediate tires was overwhelmed by the wet racing surface. Aquaplaning thru turn four, Lando Norris’s car slid out of control and hit the wall hard. The #4 McLaren Racing car spun multiple times until finally coming to a stop. “First of all, I’m doing good, but I’ve been better! I think just a bit bruised. Obviously, it was quite a big impact and I think my body’s just been thrown around a little bit but I’m good. I’m ready to race tomorrow and I want to get back on track already because it didn’t end the way I wanted it to.” The unhurt Norris said in a post-qualifying team report after being checked out by medical officials and cleared to race on Sunday. The McLaren Racing crew is left to assess the damaged #4 car where they may either be able to save their driver’s grid position (A ninth place starting spot) or would need to perform work that would see Norris starting from pit lane.

Photo Credit: Steven Tee/LAT Images/Pirelli

After more than one hour red flag that involved track workers removed the crashed McLaren, the rain had lessened to a level where the remaining drivers could stage their final runs in Q3 back on intermediate tires. Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team driver Lewis Hamilton put up a top lap time with minutes remaining but a series of final qualifying efforts would include valiant effort from an unlikely team. The Williams Racing #63 car driven by this year’s qualifying hot shoe George Russell seized the moment of a wet track and posted a 2-minute, 0.086-second time that propelled the team to the top of the final running order in the time trial while Hamilton and Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen were completing their last laps. Stunningly, Lewis Hamilton’s #44 fell short of beating the Mercedes-Benz customer team and their young Formula 1 star. However, Russell’s hope of a first career Formula 1 pole position at the 2021 Belgian Grand Prix was foiled by a 1-minute, 59.765-second lap time posted by Max Verstappen.

Though Verstappen scoring his sixth pole of the season is a small but crucial piece to the 2021 championship puzzle where the Dutch driver is trailing Lewis Hamilton by eight points, much of the focus following qualifying at Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps was on George Russell and his #63 car. The result equals the 23-year-old British driver’s best qualifying result (scored at last year’s Sakhir Grand Prix when driving in relief for Hamilton sidelined due to COVID-19) and is best starting position by a Williams Racing car since the 2017 Italian Grand Prix at Monza.

Photo Credit: Andy Hone/LAT Images/Pirelli

Settling for third place, Lewis Hamilton’s Mercedes will be starting ten places ahead of his teammate Valtteri Bottas for the 44-lap Belgian Grand Prix. The Finnish driver’s #77 car was assessed a five-position penalty for the accident caused at the Hungarian Grand Prix pushing him from 8^th to 13^th on the grid for the race. Aston Martin Racing’s Lance Stroll was also given a five grid spot penalty the drops the Canadian from 15^th to 20^th for the start on Sunday. Daniel Ricciardo’s McLaren will start in fourth place beside Hamilton.

One event after having a podium position stripped away from him in Hungary due to an insufficient fuel sample in his #5 Aston Martin Racing car, Sebastian Vettel posted a strong fifth place effort at the Spa-Francorchamps track where the German is a three-time winner in Formula 1. Scuderia AlphaTauri driver Pierre Gasly starts in sixth place ahead of a row consisting of Sergio Perez’s Red Bull Racing car and Hungarian Grand Prix winner for Alpine Racing Esteban Ocon. Lando Norris and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc are slated to be in grid row five for the Belgian Grand Prix but it depends on the extent of the damage to the #4 McLaren race car. Canada’s Nicholas Latifi posted a more than decent run in qualifying for the second Williams Racing car resulting in a 11^th place starting spot.

The 2021 Belgian Grand Prix is scheduled to go green at 3 p.m. local time (9 a.m. Eastern time).

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2021 Formula 1 Season
Belgian Grand Prix
Starting Grid
Pos #	Car #	Driver	Team	Engine
1	33	Max Verstappen	Red Bull Racing	Honda
2	63	George Russell	Williams Racing	Mercedes-Benz
3	44	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team	Mercedes-Benz
4	3	Daniel Ricciardo	McLaren F1 Team	Mercedes-Benz
5	5	Sebastian Vettel	Aston Martin Cognizant F1 Team	Mercedes-Benz
6	10	Pierre Gasly	Scuderia AlphaTauri	Honda
7	11	Sergio Perez	Red Bull Racing	Honda
8	31	Esteban Ocon	Alpine F1 Team	Renault
9	4	Lando Norris	McLaren F1 Team	Mercedes-Benz
10	16	Charles Leclerc	Scuderia Misson Winnow Ferrari	Ferrari
11	6	Nicholas Latifi	Williams Racing	Mercedes-Benz
12	55	Carlos Sainz Jr	Scuderia Misson Winnow Ferrari	Ferrari
13	77	Valtteri Bottas	Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team	Mercedes-Benz
14	14	Fernando Alonso	Alpine F1 Team	Renault
15	99	Antonio Giovinazzi	Alfa Romeo Racing	Ferrari
16	22	Yuki Tsunoda	Scuderia AlphaTauri	Honda
17	47	Mick Schumacher	Uralkali Haas F1 Team	Ferrari
18	7	Kimi Raikkonen	Alfa Romeo Racing	Ferrari
19	9	Nikita Mazepin	Uralkali Haas F1 Team	Ferrari
20	18	Lance Stroll	Aston Martin Cognizant F1 Team	Mercedes-Benz

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