SPA Quali: Max on Pole, goes back in the grid

F1 championship leader Max was untouchable in qualifying, but the Red Bull driver will take a grid penalty for changing his engine and start 15th.  

In total, seven drivers will drop down the order for Sunday’s grand prix, making for a highly unusual qualifying session. 

Carlos Sainz will start on pole position for the Belgian Grand Prix with F1 qualifying pacesetter Max Verstappen carrying a grid penalty.

Mega Max at Spa

Verstappen’s blistering lap left him more 0.632s clear of Sainz, who failed to improve on his final run in Q3 after dipping his wheels into the gravel, though the Spaniard will still take pole. 

Sergio Perez was third-quickest but will move up to the front-row of the grid for Sunday’s grand prix at Spa-Francorchamps. 

Charles Leclerc ended up fourth but also has a grid penalty for exceeding his power unit allocation. He will therefore drop to 16th, directly behind his title rival. 

Fernando Alonso will line up third despite being outpaced by penalised Alpine teammate Esteban Ocon, and will be joined on the second row by former McLaren teammate Lewis Hamilton. 

Mercedes Lacking in Pace

Hamilton was left shocked to end up 1.8s off Max at P7, ahead of Mercedes teammate George Russell. 

A superb performance from Alex Albon saw the Anglo-Thai driver make it into Q3 for the first time this season. Albon was ninth-quickest but will line-up from sixth on the grid. 

McLaren’s Daniel Ricciardo qualified 11th but will start from seventh due to penalties to others.

Also starting the race inside the top 10 are Gasly, who was 12th-quickest, and Stroll and Vettel.

Williams’ Nicholas Latifi will line-up 11th, ahead of Haas’ Kevin Magnussen. Then comes AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda and Alfa Romeo’s Valtteri Bottas, who will be the highest-placed penalised driver in 14th. 

Behind Verstappen and Leclerc, Ocon and Norris will start 17th and 18th after their respective engine penalties are applied. 

Guanyu Zhou and Mick Schumacher will share the back row due to their grid penalties. 

Grid at Spa for 2022 Race : Max will start P15