A wet qualifying in Spa caused huge drama as Verstappen and Russell line up on the front row. Hamilton starts 3rd, but a huge crash for Norris during Q3 has raised questions to the FIA and Race Director Michael Masi.
Q1
Significant rain before the session led to a brief delay of 12 minutes. Most cars ventured out on full wets, except the Williams who braved the intermediates. This would bite Williams later on, as a spin for Latifi hindered Russell’s first flying lap,
The inital wet laps left a wide spread between the drivers, but Russell’s intermediate time would leave him provisionally 1st, 7s ahead of Hamilton.
With just over 5 minutes to go, rain was predicted to fall, making the following laps crucial. Each of the drivers managed at least one representative laptime.
After numerous changes, Norris took the fastest time ahead of Verstappen and Hamilton. Norris’ team-mate, Ricciardo, just scraped through to the next session.
Giovinazzi just missed out on a Q2 appearance, followed by Tsunoda. Schumacher had a strong session outqualifying Raikkonen, while Mazepin finished last.
Eliminated:
- 16th Giovinazzi
- 17th Tsunoda
- 18th Schumacher
- 19th Raikkonen
- 20th Mazepin.
Q2
The previously predicted rain didn’t arrive on time, causing all of the drivers to set laps as early as possible in Q2. Norris stormed to the top spot initially ahead of Verstappen and Vettel.
With 6 minutes to go, Hamilton and Bottas were both in the drop zone, causing a bit of anxiety at Mercedes. Their first laps only placed them 7th and 9th respectively. With 3 minutes to go, Both Mercedes had to pit for fresh tyres as Hamilton stood in 11th and Bottas 12th.
With the track at it’s driest, the final laps made all the difference. Hamilton was able to jump to 2nd behind Norris, and Bottas finished 3rd. But, both Mercedes had used up a potentially crucial set of tyres.
Russell jumped into the top 10 for another Q3 appearance while Ricciardo made it into 9th at the death of the session.
It was a miserable day for Ferrari as neither car could make it into Q3. Latifi scored his best ever qualifying performance in front of Sainz. Alonso and Stroll were the other two drivers eliminated.
Eliminated:
- 11th Leclerc
- 12th Latifi
- 13th Sainz
- 14th Alonso
- 15th Stroll
Q3
The predicted rain finally fell between the two sessions and caused chaos in the paddock. Wet tyres were now being bolted onto the cars with Norris and Vettel taking to the track. The deluge caused drivers to start calling for the session to be red-flagged. But, a major crash from Norris bought out the flag before the weather could. Thankfully Norris was okay, but it caused an end to a very impressive session from the young Briton.
45 minutes later, the session was somewhat controversially resumed. While the rain had stopped, the track was still incredibly wet.
Mercedes and Red Bull risked the intermediate tyres, which ended up being the correct decision.
Initially, Hamilton took the advantage, but with each passing minute the circuit was drying. Both Hamilton and Verstappen left it to the last minute to start their flying lap.
But, Russell in front was storming. The Briton took provisonal pole with an absolutely stunning time which Hamilton was not able to beat. Verstappen pipped Russell by 0.013s creating an absolutely fascinating front row. Hamilton finished 3rd with Ricciardo for company on the 2nd row. Vettel and Gasly both had a strong performance with 5th and 6th respectively. While Perez and Bottas had a very underwhelming session, falling behind. Ocon managed 9th, outqualifying his team-mate while Norris is classified 10th after his accident.
Rain has again provided entertainment with a stunning performance from Russell to put a Williams on the front row. In terms of the championship, the ball is in Verstappen’s court, but he will need to ensure a strong points finish tomorrow to get the momentum back. However, while it is easy to get carried away, another dreadful call from race director Michael Masi has come to attention. After the crash during the W-series yesterday, all motorsport will be looking for a clean race tomorrow.
Top 10:
- Verstappen
- Russell
- Hamilton
- Ricciardo
- Vettel
- Gasly
- Perez
- Bottas
- Ocon
- Norris
Featured Image Credit: @F1 Official Twitter
