Not something Valtteri Bottas would have wanted on his 32nd birthday – George Russell taking P2 in a Williams out qualifying both the Mercedes. A water-packed qualifying made some drivers float and some sink. The 4.3 miles long circuit proved to be punishing for Lando Norris with him suffering a huge crash at Eau Rouge-Raidillon.
Q1: Intermediates better than Wets?
The session was delayed for 12 minutes. With the Williams going on intermediates, every other team soon learned that their wets were not the best choice for qualifying. The blue tyres though necessary for having better grip made the cars slower, something no one in the paddock wants on a day where your main focus is to set fast laps. Lando was the quickest in Q1. Both the drivers of Haas and Alpha Romeo were knocked out with Yuki at P17. A yellow flag was waved when Latifi went on to the grass.
Q2: Disappointing laps by Ferrari and Alonso’s Alpine
Norris again managed to be on top with Max behind him. This part of the qualifying saw few drivers expressing their frustration over the radio such as Lance Stroll (Aston Martin) who missed the cut to Q3. The knocked out were Alonso who did a great job before the summer break got out and so did Latifi along with the Ferrari duo.
Q3: George will start from the front row
Vettel asked to red flag the session due to the heavy amount of standing water. Mere minutes later, the McLaren of Lando had a massive crash. This unfortunate event brought out the red flags halting the session for a long time. He was taken to the medical centre for a checkup while the drivers were back in the pits. After the restart of Q3, everyone gave their best with around 9 minutes on their hand. Max Verstappen took the pole position at Spa making it the first one for the Red Bull team in a decade. The most shocking turn in the usual grid was George Russell putting such a great hot lap that gave him P2.
What’s for tomorrow?
Five-place grid penalties will alter the positions of Bottas and Stroll. Valtteri starts at P13 tomorrow with Lance at the back at P20. Daniel Ricciardo gave a shocking result at P4. After heavy damages incurred on the McLaren car number 4, it’ll be important to see if the team can build it back before the race starts tomorrow without compromising the pace it showed during qualifying.
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