On a wet, rainy, and damp afternoon at the Belgian Grand Prix, Charles Leclerc posted the second-fastest time during qualifying.
But it is the man who posted the fastest time that looks strongest heading into the main event.
Max Verstappen set the quickest time during Saturday’s qualifying session. Still, with Red Bull installing a new internal combustion engine on his RB20 earlier this week, Verstappen will take a ten-place grid penalty on Sunday. That means when the lights go out tomorrow afternoon, he will be back in P11.
But Verstappen looks to have a car that can charge up through the field quickly, on a circuit where overtaking is possible. Verstappen’s best time in Q3 was over a half-second ahead of Leclerc, who will start in pole position.
Starting alongside Leclerc on the front row will be Sergio Pérez. While the second Red Bull driver has been under fire in recent weeks for a string of poor performances — bringing into question his future at Red Bull following the summer shutdown, which begins on Monday — Saturday’s performance puts him in position for a strong result on Sunday.
Such a performance could be enough to keep his seat for the rest of the season.
“As I’ve always said: every weekend is a new opportunity to do better every day and tomorrow is a new opportunity for us to do better than today and go for that win and that opportunity,” said Pérez following qualifying. “I have a good feeling for tomorrow, so we’ll see.”
As for Leclerc, Saturday’s strong performance was also a bit of redemption for a driver that has been facing some questions in recent weeks. Since capturing his home race in Monaco at the end of May Leclerc has also struggled, scoring just 24 points over the five race weekends since Monaco. By comparison, Pérez has 17 points over that same stretch.
Here are the full qualifying results:
But Saturday in many ways belonged to Verstappen, who faced some questions of his own following last weekend’s Hungarian Grand Prix. Verstappen was frustrated for almost the entire race, starting with the direction from his team to give a position back to Lando Norris following an early overtake that race stewards had begun to investigate. Verstappen was frustrated during numerous exchanges with his team over the radio, and a late-stage collision with Lewis Hamilton sent his RB20 skyward for a moment, ending any chance of a podium finish.
However, Sunday is shaping up to be different. Because despite starting 11th, Verstappen looks to have the dominant package heading into the Grand Prix.
Which could ease a lot of that frustration.
