Belgian Grand Prix qualifying results as Red Bull left red-faced by Max Verstappen on pole

Rain wreaked havoc during qualifying as Max Verstappen qualified on pole for Sunday's Belgian Grand Prix at the Spa-Francorchamps circuit.

16:00, Sat, Jul 27, 2024 | UPDATED: 16:10, Sat, Jul 27, 2024

F1 Grand Prix of Belgium - Final Practice

Max Verstappen was quickest at Spa (Image: Getty)

Red Bull star Max Verstappen clinched pole position during qualifying for the Belgian Grand Prix, but the Dutchman will not be starting from the front of the grid as the Dutchman takes an untimely penalty.

The three-time world champion, who was born in Belgium, was head and shoulders above the rest of the field by qualifying half a second clear of his nearest challenger, Ferrari's Charles Leclerc, with team-mate Sergio Perez in third. Lewis Hamilton was fourth-fastest for Mercedes.

But Verstappen's 10-place grid penalty means he will start from 11th place on the grid, promoting Perez to the front row of the grid behind Leclerc, which is probably the best-case scenario for the Austrian team.

There was a frantic dash to get out of the pits in Q1 after the drivers were informed that 'Class 2' rain was due to arrive early in the session. A significant amount of rain had already fallen on Saturday morning, meaning the drivers were forced to start on intermediate or full wet tyres anyway.

Verstappen set the early pace with a seventh-tenth gap to the next quickest driver Pierre Gasly. But as the track began to dry, times began to tumble on the timing sheet as drivers fitted a new set of intermediates.

With seconds to go before the end of the session, George Russell hooked up a decent lap to haul himself out of the elimination zone. Despite putting in some below-par laps, Lando Norris and Lewis Hamilton escaped a humiliating Q1 exit in P12 and P13 respectively as Oscar Piastri continued his fine form to lead the timings at the end of Q1.

Oscar Piastri AUTO-PRIX-F1-BEL

Oscar Piastri topped the Q1 timing sheet on a damp track (Image: Getty)

Both Haas drivers Nico Hulkenberg and Kevin Magnussen were knocked out along with Yuki Tsunoda, Logan Sargeant and Zhou Guanyu. However, Sargeant and Zhou would move up on place as Tsunoda's penalty puts him at the back of the grid.

Verstappen, whose incident involving Zhou for impeding will be investigated after the session, fumed at the Sauber driver after he refused to move aside for him at 130R: "Hello?! What the f***", the Dutchman raged.

But the Red Bull star continued to pump in laps far quicker than anyone else on the track, with both Mercedes and Ferrari drivers flirting dangerously with the elimination zone in Q2, before Charles Leclerc, Carlos Sainz, Russell and Hamilton all produced the laps they needed under pressure.

Sergio Perez survived being knocked out by 0.003 of a second as Alex Albon was the man to miss out on the Q3 shootout. That means the Mexican will start ahead of Verstappen in a grand prix for the first time in 2024, albeit due to Verstappen's grid drop.

On the first runs of Q3, Perez 1:53.755 was the quickest marginally ahead of Hamilton and Piastri. But Verstappen flexed his muscles, going a full six tenths quicker than his team-mate to dominate the session.

Norris made an improvement on his second run to leapfrog Piastri but not Hamilton. However, Leclerc managed to get ahead of Perez in the order, leaving Red Bull somewhat red-faced after opting against giving Perez a tow from Verstappen.

Qualifying results in full...

1. Max Verstappen (Red Bull) *will drop 10 places due to grid penalty

2. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari)

3. Sergio Perez (Red Bull)

4. Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes)

5. Lando Norris (McLaren)

6. Oscar Piastri (McLaren)

7. George Russell (Mercedes)

8. Carlos Sainz (Ferrari)

9. Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin)

10. Esteban Ocon (Alpine)

11. Alex Albon (Williams)