Leclerc puts Ferrari on pole at Spa

Charles Leclerc brilliant at Spa
Charles Leclerc brilliant at Spa

Charles Leclerc has been fast all weekend at Spa and he blistered the circuit when it counted to bury his teammate Sebastian Vettel and Mercedes ace Lewis Hamilton by 7/10ths of a second to win pole for the Belgium GP at 1m42.519s.

That's six races in a row Leclerc has beaten his teammate.

"Felt good! From the second corner onwards we were very strong and it felt amazing," says Leclerc. "I did not really care about the slip steam, it was just too much of a mess to prepare the tires so I wanted to be out there alone."

Vettel meanwhile, complained of the "mess" after making a big mistake in the middle sector and locking up into the final chicane.

Valtteri Bottas in the 2nd Mercedes and Max Verstappen in the Red Bull rounded out the top-5.

"FP3 was a terrible session for me, but my guys were faultless to rebuild the car and considering I missed nearly all of FP3 and a lot of FP1, I'm really glad I'm out here," said Hamilton. "Charles did an exceptional job, I hope we can take the fight to them tomorrow."

Daniel Ricciardo finished an impressive sixth, one place ahead of Renault team mate Nico Hulkenberg with Kimi Raikkonen edged out into eighth.

Racing Point’s Sergio Perez, who signed a new three-year deal on Friday, and Kevin Magnussen completed the top 10.

Renault have traditionally struggled for one-lap pace this season, so it was a welcome return to form for them – albeit tempered by the fact both drivers have a five-place grid drop thanks to new power units.

Meanwhile Robert Kubica lost a Mercedes engine and Antonio Giovinazzi lost a Ferrari engine.

More to follow…..

Qualifying Results

POS DRIVER NAT TEAM Q1 Q2 Q3
1 Charles Leclerc MON Scuderia Ferrari 1m43.587s 1m43.376s 1m42.519s
2 Sebastian Vettel GER Scuderia Ferrari +0.522s +0.130s +0.748s
3 Lewis Hamilton GBR Mercedes AMG Petronas +1.673s +0.654s +0.763s
4 Valtteri Bottas FIN Mercedes AMG Petronas +1.554s +1.042s +0.896s
5 Max Verstappen NED Red Bull Racing Honda +1.035s +1.194s +1.171s
6 Daniel Ricciardo AUS Renault F1 Team +1.973s +1.165s +1.738s
7 Nico Hulkenberg GER Renault F1 Team +2.312s +1.611s +2.023s
8 Kimi Raikkonen FIN Alfa Romeo Racing +2.255s +1.202s +2.038s
9 Sergio Perez MEX SportPesa Racing Point +2.145s +1.769s +2.187s
10 Kevin Magnussen DEN Rich Energy Haas +2.252s +1.800s +2.567s
11 Romain Grosjean FRA Rich Energy Haas +2.107s +1.859s
12 Lando Norris GBR McLaren F1 Team +2.567s +1.909s
13 Lance Stroll CAN SportPesa Racing Point +2.413s +2.109s
14 Alexander Albon THA Red Bull Racing Honda +1.941s +2.861s
15 Antonio Giovinazzi ITA Alfa Romeo Racing +2.050s no time
16 Pierre Gasly FRA Red Bull Toro Rosso Honda +2.848s
17 Carlos Sainz ESP McLaren F1 Team +2.920s
18 Daniil Kvyat RUS Red Bull Toro Rosso Honda +2.931s
19 George Russell GBR ROKiT Williams Racing +3.961s
20 Robert Kubica POL ROKiT Williams Racing no time

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