Staff Reporter.
Red Bull’s Max Verstappen took pole position in a dramatic, wet qualifying at the Belgian Grand Prix with an outstanding George Russell second.
Verstappen’s lap prevented Russell from taking what would have been one of the greatest pole positions in Formula 1 history in the uncompetitive Williams.
Even so, it was a remarkable performance from Russell, who missed out on pole by 0.321 seconds.
Verstappen’s title rival Lewis Hamilton was third fastest in the Mercedes.
And there was a big accident for McLaren’s Lando Norris, who crashed at Eau Rouge in the McLaren in the wettest conditions of the session, bringing out the red flag and leading to a long delay while the rain abated a little.
Norris, who was fastest in the first two sessions, was sent to hospital after initial checks at the circuit for what McLaren called “a precautionary X-ray of his elbow”. He has since been passed fit to race on Sunday.
Here’s how qualifying finished and how the drivers will line up for Sunday’s Belgian Grand Prix race:
- Max Verstappen – Red Bull 1:59.765
- George Russelll – Williams +0.321
- Lewis Hamilton – Mercedes +0.334
- Daniel Ricciardo – McLaren +1.099
- Sebastian Vettel – Aston Martin +1.170
- Pierre Gasly – AlphaTauri +1.399
- Sergio Perez – Red Bull +2.347
- Valtteri Bottas – Mercedes +2.737
- Esteban Ocon – Alpine +3.748
- Lando Norris – McLaren – No Q3 time
- Charles Leclerc – Ferrari
- Nicholas Latifi – Williams
- Carlos Sainz – Ferrari
- Fernando Alonso – Alpine
- Lance Stroll – Aston Martin
- Antonio Giovinazzi – Alfa Romeo
- Yuki Tsunoda – AlphaTauri
- Mick Schumacher – Haas
- Kimi Raikkonen – Alfa Romeo
- Nikita Mazepin – Haas.
Lewis Hamilton posted the best time from the first runs, but then George Russell was a dart in the final runs and sat pole ahead of Hamilton for long enough that you thought he might actually take pole. But, then Max Verstappen put together a brilliant lap to take pole position ahead of the two Brits.