F1 News: Verstappen wins pole for 2024 Belgian GP in the wet

In treacherous wet conditions at high-speed Spa Francorchamps Max Verstappen turned  a lap of 1m53.159s to win pole position for the 2024 Belgian GP, but a grid penalty for a new engine means he will start 11th

–by Mark Cipolloni–

With conditions constantly changing, teams and drivers were constantly guessing when to put on new Intermediates and when to go out, but in all conditions, Verstappen was superior.

The rain separates the great drivers from the greatest drivers, and in the rain, Verstappen has no equal.

“It was a nice qualifying, luckily the weather was okay, raining a little bit but we could still do a decent qualifying,” said Verstappen.

“The car was working quite well in the wet so I could just do my laps. Tomorrow is a different day, warmer, no rain. It’s all about tire degradation – I don’t know how quick we’ll be, but I hope we can be in the mix. The race can be lost in Turn 1 so I just need to see what happens and go from there.”

Charles Leclerc was 2nd fastest in his #16 Ferrari, 0.595s behind Verstappen, but will move up to pole with Verstappen’s penalty.

He said himself he was fighting for fifth until the weather intervened, but Leclerc must be fairly proud of that last lap of his. Ferrari risked it all by leaving their fresh set of inters for the second runs in Q3, knowing if more rain came they would be scuppered.

But Leclerc nailed that last lap to leapfrog the McLaren and Mercedes cars, and inherit pole as a result.

“I definitely did not expect that this weekend, with the tricky conditions, to do something above our expectations,” said Leclerc.

“We need to focus on tomorrow and what will happen when the rain is gone. Without the rain, P5 was the position we were fighting for with the Mercedes – the rain helped us, but I’m not going to complain. I’m really happy. It’s not the easiest first place to keep on the first lap, but I’ll see, every start is different.”

Sergio was third quick for Red Bull, 0.606s behind his teammate, and will move up to the outside of the front row.

“Very tricky out there. It was good to finally put it together,” said Perez. “Unfortunately, we didn’t have any new tires in Q3. P2 is the best position you can wish for at Spa. Like I’ve always said, every weekend is a new opportunity to do better. I think tomorrow degradation will be tricky, and graining – there are a lot of unknowns but I have a good feeling.”

Lewis Hamilton was 4th for Mercedes, 0.676s behind Verstappen, who also topped Practice 3 in the rain easily.

Lando Norris, who was fastest rounded out the top-5 for McLaren, 0.822s behind Verstappen, despite having the best car on the grid.

Race day is expected to be dry, and hot – potentially warmer than yesterday.

Secondly, tire degradation is supposed to be high.

And third, there could be a mix of strategies on display. It should be exciting watching Verstappen coming through the field.

Leclerc is on pole chasing a first win since Monaco, Perez is chasing a first win of the season, and behind charging back through the field is Verstappen – chasing a first win from P11 on the grid. Not to be missed!

2024 Belgian GP Qualifying Results