What the teams said – Qualifying in Belgium

Red Bull

Verstappen wasn’t perturbed by the rain that fell during qualifying, the Dutchman not putting a foot wrong throughout. He was imperious in the tricky, half-wet conditions, topping all three qualifying segments to be fastest of all at the end by half a second. But thanks to his grid penalty, it isn’t pole for Verstappen but a P11 grid slot. Perez meanwhile had a very welcome return to form despite a wobble in Q2 that saw him scrape into Q3 by just 0.003s. He had no fresh intermediate tyres in Q3, but still did enough to ensure he lines up on the front row tomorrow.

Max Verstappen, 1st, 1:53.159

“Today was a positive day. We were really strong, have maximised the car and have the best possible position for tomorrow. You always try and do the best lap possible; it was wet today and the conditions tomorrow will be better and I think it will all be about tyre management. Hopefully what we did today will help us with tyre management for tomorrow, and I felt more comfortable with the wing that we chose, so I hope I can come back into the fight with the other teams. There are many other fast cars out there who are really strong and I think the McLarens will be tough to beat tomorrow. Hopefully we can fight for a position with the grid place penalty and be back in the mix and I hope that we can be competitive. We hope that it won’t hurt us too much but we will see as the weather will be different, the wind will change and we will set up the car a bit differently. So we will see and we look forward to tomorrow."

Sergio Perez, 3rd, 1:53.765

“It is a good boost of confidence for myself and the team to be starting on the front row tomorrow. It feels good to have momentum on my side and to hopefully have a strong result ahead of summer break. We had good pace all the way through qualifying, we changed the car’s balance dramatically from yesterday to today with everything focused on race pace. We managed to get nice, solid balance out there so I’m very pleased with that. It’s going to be a long race tomorrow, if I see an opportunity early on we’ll go for it but it is going to be a different scenario with weather conditions. Tomorrow is a new opportunity, and I’m looking forward to it as I think we are in a good position to fight for the victory."

Christian Horner, Team Principal

"Max was on fire today. Both our drivers pushed it to the limit. Max was on it all through the session, right from the start. Exceptional qualifying from him and he could have even given a set of tyres back to Pirelli’s. He used fewer tyres to get to Q3 and then just two laps in Q3 to get the pole. But I have to say a big congratulations to Checo, only with scrub tyres in Q3, his middle sector on that scrub only two tenths off Max and to miss out on what would have been pole by only five hundredth’s for what is now a front row start, is a great effort. Max of course starts in 11th on the grid tomorrow, but as we have seen in previous years, there is plenty he can do from there so we are very much looking forward to what tomorrow brings."

Ferrari

Ferrari had looked the fourth fastest team for much of the day, but did get both cars into Q3 at least. Once there they gambled, leaving their only set of new intermediate tyres for the second run. The rain was falling slightly heavier by then, but Leclerc managed to nail his last effort to jump up to second – meaning he inherits pole from Verstappen once again here. Sainz couldn’t quite match that, and took eighth which becomes seventh for tomorrow’s race.

Charles Leclerc, 2nd, 1:53.754

"It feels good to be starting at the front of the grid. It isn't the easiest track on which to defend the first position on the opening lap, but I will do everything to convert this to a victory for the team. The weather conditions played their part and today’s result exceeded our expectations. Our focus will now shift to getting ready to do the same in dry conditions tomorrow."

Carlos Sainz, 8th, 1:54.477

"I cannot be happy with the end result today because I was fast during the entire session and I didn’t extract the maximum out of the last set of tyres in Q3. Immediately into turn 1 I felt I didn't have the same grip as I had during the previous runs and the entire lap was a struggle. I need to understand what I did differently to have such low grip.

"As for tomorrow, the race will be open and the goal will be to gain positions and fight at the front. It's difficult to predict what conditions we will find in the race, but I'm sure there will be opportunities."

Fred Vasseur, Team Principal

"We can be pleased with today’s result, as I always prefer to have a car starting from pole... Of course it will be interesting to see what happens between the start line and turn 5, as it can be tricky to keep the lead at Spa-Francorchamps on the opening lap. Charles drove a great lap and we got the strategy right, deciding to refuel between the two runs in Q3 and to keep the fresh set for the end to make the most of it in the final minutes of Q3. As for Carlos, the pace was there all through the session, but he made a small mistake at the beginning of the last lap and couldn’t extract everything from his fresh tyres.

"We don’t know what will happen tomorrow, but starting from pole is the first step in the right direction. Now we need to have a good start and get through Raidillon well keeping the lead with Charles. We know Max (Verstappen) can still be a danger and that McLaren will also be quick, so we must focus on ourselves, knowing that our long stint yesterday looked good."

Mercedes

With two drivers who go well in the wet, Mercedes must have been pretty happy to see the conditions at Spa on Saturday. They had their moments, as did everyone with the track drying so rapidly at times, but both made Q3 in the end relatively comfortably. Once there, they used their one set of inters first up like McLaren, with Hamilton managing to get the beating of the papaya duo with what was a very decent effort. Russell starts slightly further back, but both are in the mix for big points on Sunday.

Lewis Hamilton, 4th, 1:54.037

"Overall, qualifying was a good session for us. We tried to predict the weather as best we could, which is a real challenge around here. In hindsight, we would have chosen to run a little later on our new set of Intermediates in Q3, but the conditions and incoming rain are so hard to forecast. Our pace was still decent on tyres that we had completed multiple push laps on so we can be pleased with our efforts today.

"Tomorrow’s race will be a challenge. We’ve likely got a few quicker cars starting behind us in Verstappen and the McLarens. I will be getting my head down though, trying to hold position to them and see if I can keep up with the guys ahead of me. I will be giving it everything and hopefully the changes we’ve made overnight will help us find more pace in the dry than we had on Friday."

George Russell, 7th, 1:54.095

"Predicting the ever-changing weather made qualifying a real challenge today. You had to make sure you had the new Intermediate tyre on your car at the right time, and that was difficult to do. We were maybe slightly too early putting it on in Q3, but it is easy to say that with the benefit of hindsight. Starting P6 for tomorrow is therefore a fair result.

"There will be a lot of unknowns going into tomorrow. The forecast is currently dry, and we will be hoping to move forward from P6. The McLarens looked fast on Friday and may be slightly quicker than us, but let’s wait and see. Tyre degradation will also play a big factor. It was some of the highest levels we have seen so far this year in FP1 and FP2. Today’s rain may also have an impact on the surface so we will have to be adaptable."

Toto Wolff, Head of Mercedes-Benz Motorsport

"Today was a typical day at Spa; changeable conditions, with the forecast shifting constantly. That made it a real challenge. We also made changes to the car overnight but weren’t able to evaluate them in FP3 given the lack of running. Nevertheless, both drivers were competitive in qualifying. In Q3, we expected heavier rain to arrive and decided to use our final set of new Intermediates at the start of the segment. Conditions didn’t particularly deteriorate however and being just one tenth from starting P1 tomorrow, having set our time on tyres that had done multiple laps, is a little frustrating. That is all part of the challenge of Spa though and overall, we can be pleased with our efforts.

"Tomorrow is forecast to be dry. We saw on Friday that tyre degradation may play a large role in the race. The changes we’ve made overnight will hopefully help us manage this better and we can be in the fight for the podium once again."

Andrew Shovlin, Trackside Engineering Director

"We weren't happy with the balance or pace of the car yesterday, so we made some fairly major changes to the mechanical and aero specification of the car overnight. We'd hoped for a dry window in FP3 to evaluate those, but unfortunately it stayed wet throughout and there was no chance to accumulate any meaningful running.

"Wet qualifying sessions are difficult at present as the grid is tight. You need to time your new sets to coincide with when the track is at its quickest. By Q3, we were down to one new set of Intermediates. We'd decided to carry more fuel and do multiple laps to try and land one with the driest conditions. That was similar to McLaren. We lost out to the Ferrari of Leclerc though who used his new set right at the end. Had we not been carrying the fuel, we would have had the pace for P2.

"We don’t know where we will stack up on race pace, as the car is quite different to the one we ran in the dry yesterday. Starting from P3 and P6 though, we are hopefully well placed to fight for a podium."

McLaren

Norris went into qualifying as the favourite to take pole, but his form momentarily deserted him in Q1, meaning he needed to use a second set in inters to make it into Q2. Piastri was taking the fight to Verstappen though, swapping fastest laps throughout the early part of qualifying. Into Q3, they opted to come out on their fresh inters early, and were fuelled long. It didn’t prove to be the best strategy as their tyres went off as the track improved, and in the end they had to settle for what will be fourth and fifth.

Lando Norris, 5th, 1:54.358

“Mixed feelings today. I was struggling at points, and it felt like I was a little bit off the pace, which is frustrating. I think we paid the price for a slightly lower downforce, so hopefully, it comes back to us tomorrow after some work overnight. Starting P4 tomorrow keeps us in the fight and provides a great opportunity to gain positions.”

Oscar Piastri, 6th, 1:54.136

"They were tough conditions in Qualifying today and we felt reasonably good, we just didn’t quite get the most out of the new set of tyres in Q3. A little improvement would have made a decent difference, however, we go into tomorrow with confidence. It’s a long run through Eau Rouge and a long race ahead, so we’ve got plenty of chances to move forward and fight for the top spots.”

Andrea Stella, Team Principal

“Qualifying was wet throughout, and conditions were made particularly tricky with the level of rain being variable. We managed the sessions effectively and the drivers drove well. We have good positions from which to start the race tomorrow and Spa-Francorchamps is one of the easier circuits on which to overtake. The car also looks strong in the sort of dry conditions that are forecast.

“Of course, having looked very competitive on Friday and even in the rain earlier today in FP3, we felt we could fight for pole position, but the reality this afternoon was that Verstappen was a bit too fast for us, while Leclerc, Hamilton and Perez have done good jobs. We may have left a few tenths out there on our final laps but everyone will say the same. We now look forward to making progress tomorrow in the race.”

Aston Martin

Stroll fell foul of the conditions in FP3, aquaplaning off at Raidillon and crashing heavily. The team needed both pit crews to fix his car in time for qualifying, but the Canadian still wasn’t overly happy with his car and exited in Q2. Alonso did make Q3 but couldn’t quite compete with the top four teams. Nonetheless, he has a decent starting slot for tomorrow – and a car that could well go better in the dry.

HIGHLIGHTS: Watch the qualifying action from Spa as Verstappen goes fastest while Leclerc inherits pole

Fernando Alonso, 9th, 1:54.258

“I am happy with ninth position in Qualifying today, which will become eighth with Max Verstappen's grid penalty, and I think it was probably the maximum we could achieve. I wasn’t feeling totally comfortable in all of the Free Practice sessions this weekend, so I wasn’t sure what to expect heading into Qualifying. The car felt good and I had confidence in these mixed weather conditions. We go into the unknown in tomorrow’s race with less knowledge of the tyre degradation and with the new asphalt too, so that will make things interesting. We have a lot of the dry tyres available, so hopefully we can push and fight for some points.”

Lance Stroll, 15th, 1:55.716

“Firstly, I want to thank the team in the garage for the repair work they did to fix my car after FP3. We had to change the front corner and floor due to damage as well as the power unit and gearbox because of the heavy impact, so they did a great job working super quickly to get me back on track in time for Qualifying.
“It was a tough day out there. I struggled in Qualifying with the grip and balance of the car; it’s hard to really push when you don’t have that confidence. We’ll work through everything tonight to see if there’s any improvements we can make ahead of the race. This is a track that offers good overtaking opportunities, so we’ll be pushing hard for points.”

Mike Krack, Team Principal

“Spa is always a challenge especially with inclement weather conditions. Lance got caught out with some aquaplaning in FP3 and that gave the team a tough job to repair the car for Qualifying. A heroic effort, with both car crews working together, ensured that Lance was able to make it through to Q2 and P15. Fernando managed the conditions in Q3 to line up P8 for the race. Tomorrow we expect it will be a dry race and we will be aiming to maximise the points. Spa is frequently unpredictable so we will be fighting right to the chequered flag.”

Alpine

After looking off the pace yesterday, the Alpine came alive in the wet conditions. At times both Ocon and Gasly looked like they could mix it right at the front of the field, but Gasly didn’t quite extract enough from his final lap in Q2 and exited before the top-10 shootout. Ocon did make it into Q3 and although he wound up slowest, he inherits ninth thanks to Verstappen’s grid penalty to end a run of Q1 exits for him.

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Esteban Ocon, 10th, 1:54.810

“We will start tomorrow’s race from ninth place after Qualifying in tenth and reaching Q3. We brought some upgrades here in Spa, which we’ll continue to gather data for each time we’re on track. It was a good afternoon and we maximised the potential in Qualifying. The weather conditions meant that it was not easy in the wet but it was fine for us to run. In Q3 it was trickier out there as we did not have a new set of tyres. We start inside the points on Sunday, we know it will not be an easy race, however, we have given ourselves a great opportunity to score points. We need to look ahead to tomorrow, assess the conditions, where it will most likely be dry, and assess our options on strategy. We aim to take all the opportunities that might come our way.”

Pierre Gasly, 12th, 1:54.635

“It’s definitely a disappointing feeling to exit in Q2, especially after such a good Q1 where we ended second on the timesheets. We did not maximise our out laps and tyre preparation in the changing conditions and I felt like I lacked rear grip. We did not give ourselves the best chance to reach Q3 and we need to better understand how we can maximise performance. My set-up is different to the other car – focusing on corners and compromising some straight-line speed – so we will see what that brings in tomorrow’s race. It looks like it will be dry, we tried a few things in Practice in dry conditions on Friday, so hopefully it will all pay off tomorrow, where we aim to progress into the points."

David Sanchez, Executive Technical Director

“This weekend it has been a great team effort to introduce our first significant update to the car in recent weeks. We’ve been able to experiment and better understand how these work on our car and we will continue to do so each time we are on track. Spa-Francorchamps is always a challenging circuit to get right in terms of car set-up. For today’s Qualifying, we opted to split the downforce configuration on both our cars. Esteban was extremely fast on the straights – purple in Sector 1 – with a low downforce option, while Pierre ran a set-up more favourable for performance in the corners. We will see how this will pay off in tomorrow’s race where we line up in ninth and twelfth. It looks like it will be dry and we will be alert on our strategic options given the potential high degradation on this newly resurfaced track.”

Williams

Sargeant was left frustrated by traffic in the form of Verstappen on his flying lap in Q1, exiting at the earliest stage having recently put together a run of Q2 appearances. Albon did move on into Q2, and looked to be flirting with Q3. But he wound up missing out by 0.003s behind Perez, venting his understandable frustration on the radio.

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Alex Albon, 11th, 1:54.473

"It was a lot of fun out there today with the conditions making it a bit tricky but a joy to drive. Trying to get the rears to survive or to go flat through Eau Rouge; every lap was pushing the limits. Whilst we were three milliseconds off Q3, I’m still happy with how the car felt and due to penalties, we’ll be starting from P10 anyway. We’ve made a lot of changes on our car from FP3 to Qualifying, however because of the rain, we aren’t 100% sure how these changes have gone, but we’ll be looking to have a good day tomorrow and fight for points."

Logan Sargeant, 19th, 1:57.230

"It’s always tricky at Spa and it’s never easy in these kinds of conditions when the track is drying. A lot of it comes down to that last lap and we didn’t get one in as we didn’t get ourselves in the right position. So what could have been, nobody knows, but I’m not sure we quite had the pace today. We’ll go again tomorrow."

Sven Smeets, Sporting Director

"The weather dictated Qualifying today. The track remained too wet for Softs, however it was very difficult to decide when to come in and take a new set of Intermediates. With Logan, we missed the right track position at the end of Q1 and had to abandon our last pushlap which we needed to get into Q2. Alex got into Q2 with a good lap and missed out on Q3 by a few milliseconds, but we’re happy with P11 after such a tricky Qualifying. Tomorrow it will be dry so the race will be a completely different story to today, but we're ready to fight for points."

RB

Tsunoda exited at the first time of asking in qualifying, which wasn’t a great surprise given his grid penalty means he is starting down the back anyway. Ricciardo made Q2 but could go no further on a tricky day for the Australian. He complained about some issues in FP3, and thus didn’t go into qualifying with the best practice behind him. But 13th is still a position where points are possible, and that RB does look strong in drier conditions.

Daniel Ricciardo, 13th, 1:54.682

"Today I felt good and thought we would be better than thirteenth; I’m disappointed with this result but happy with the session and the pace we had, as I generally think we were a Q3 car. In Q2 the rain started to come down a bit more, so we chose to set the time a bit earlier in case it got worse. At the time we felt it was a good decision and we were able to improve our lap time a little bit, but it didn’t work out for us as the rain stabilised enough when we were at the garage, and everyone was able to improve. I’m comfortable with the dry conditions we’re hopefully going to have tomorrow; here it’s normally a one-stop race, but with the bad weather we had today maybe the track will have poor grip which might create a two-stop race. In this case, there might be more opportunities with the strategy."

Yuki Tsunoda, 18th, 1:56.593

“It wasn’t a normal qualifying for me as I have an engine penalty for tomorrow, so it was about getting a lap in and seeing how the car feels. The car is quite different from yesterday, so it was good to make sure I’m happy with everything and gather more data. Together, we’ll focus our efforts on tomorrow because overtaking won’t be easy in the race as DRS trains often form here. We’ll try to maximise the car and our strategy to make it work as a team, and hopefully score some points.”

Jody Egginton, Technical Director

"Qualifying started with a damp track meaning inter tyres for the entire session, but both cars set solid times within the top 10 on their first runs. Yuki struggled a bit more with variability in grip across the lap on his second set and consequently did not progress, but either way will be starting the race from the back due to his PU change. The second run was good enough to put Daniel back into the top 10, but some drivers were going quicker later on, which is frustrating as the underlying pace in these conditions was good enough for Q3. We need to understand what we could have done better to have secured the place in Q3, but the focus now shifts to the race and scoring points tomorrow. The midfield is likely to remain very tight, so we will be focused on moving both our cars forward."

Kick Sauber

Zhou was called to the stewards for a case of impeding in Q1, on what just wasn’t his day as he exited in last place. The stewards then handed him a three-place grid drop to add to his woes. Bottas did make it to Q2 on a day that was better for ducks than drivers, but had to settle for P14 after running through all his intermediate tyres. The team are still trying to understand their latest upgrades, and will be using Friday’s data tonight to see what they can do to try and score a first point of the season for the Finn tomorrow.

Valtteri Bottas, 14th, 1:54.764

“I feel we made the most out it today – considering the unpredictable, ever-changing track conditions. We manage to put in clean laps with good timing, and the end result is pretty much an indication of where we stand at the moment. Every lap felt different, and it was quite the challenge to estimate tyre grip, but we managed to improve on the last push lap of Q2 on a new set of tyres – eventually claiming 14th on the grid. The conditions are set to be different again tomorrow, but we were able to put in a good amount of running in the dry yesterday to properly understand our setup ahead of the race, which should help us be in the mix. Tomorrow is a new opportunity to go for it, and it would be nice to finally get points before heading into the summer break. We’ve seen some unpredictable races on this track, and overall, it’s always been a pretty pace-dominated race, so let’s see what we have in store for tomorrow.”

Zhou Guanyu, 20th, 1:57.775

“I feel like we definitely missed a chance in today’s qualifying session. My first run on inters wasn’t bad, and I believe I could have made it into the top 15 at that point. However, when pitting for a fresh set of tyres, the team held me in the pit lane to time our final run better and, unfortunately, this strategy didn’t work out. I ended up at the back of a train of cars heading into the final chicane, and with only one lap to optimally prepare my tyres, it was impossible to improve my time. It’s disappointing because I think we could have achieved a better result. Despite this setback, I believe we can make up some ground tomorrow, given my overall feeling today and the way the car was performing.”

Alessandro Alunni Bravi, Team Representative

"Today was a tricky session for everyone on track due to changeable conditions. We started the session on a wet track that dried with each lap. Overall, it was a good session for Valtteri, who maximised performance in Q1 when he finished in P11, less than seven tenths of a second off the best time. Our strategy to use two new sets of inters paid off for him. In Q2, he maximised performance at the end of the session, when he experienced a damper last sector, closing today’s qualifying in P14, meaning we’re once again in the mix. Zhou, however, struggled more with today’s track conditions, especially at the beginning of the session. We opted for the same strategy, pitting him for a second set of inters and keeping him in the pit lane to position him for the last lap – allowing him to cross the chequered flag as one of the last cars when track conditions became more favourable. Unfortunately, three cars passed him in the chicane before the last lap, resulting in a loss of almost eight tenths of a second between the finish line and La Source. With an already compromised lap, he wasn’t able to improve his lap time on the final attempt – a lap that was deleted regardless due to exceeding track limits at Turn 4. This leaves a bitter taste for all of us as he had the potential to enter Q2.”

Haas

Haas expected this track to play to their strengths but it wasn’t to be in qualifying when both drivers exited at the first time of asking. It was an unexpected result, with Hulkenberg often excelling in the wet. But their car did look quite strong yesterday in the dry for Magnussen, so they could well stage a comeback tomorrow if they’ve opted for a set-up to suit the conditions expected for the Grand Prix.

Nico Hulkenberg, 16th, 1:56.308

“I think our run profile was actually good, close to optimum, I don’t feel like we left anything out there. We just didn’t have the pace unfortunately, I was struggling on the intermediate, and we didn’t have the grip needed to do a better lap time. It’s been a bit of a theme this season that on the intermediates the car doesn’t feel that happy and not in the best place. We need to understand and analyse that for the future. I don’t know if others went for higher downforce for qualifying because of the rain, but if that is the case it could play into our hands, but we’ll only find out tomorrow.”

Kevin Magnussen, 17th, 1:56.500

“I don’t think we were too far from the optimum we could do. I went out for two timed laps in the second run and the track was getting so much better that it would’ve been better to do one timed lap with new tyres with the track being the best. We didn’t look as competitive in these conditions compared to the dry conditions yesterday. Our plan was for a wet session but there was almost a dry line at the end, so that didn’t work for our plan, but the performance wasn’t there.”

Ayao Komatsu, Team Principal

“Obviously that wasn’t the qualifying session we were looking for. Fundamentally, the car doesn’t seem to be working well on the intermediates, so we really need to investigate the reason why. On top of that, Kevin’s car looks like it had a physical issue with the rear suspension which we can see on the data so we’re now looking into that, but I’m sure we can put that one right tonight. Tomorrow, we can’t solve the issue with the intermediate compound overnight, but looking ahead it’s a dry race with very different temperatures, so hopefully we should be a bit more competitive.”

Pirelli

Mario Isola, Motorsport Director

“Today was another example of how changeable the weather can be here in Spa! In fact, we and the teams were expecting rain to be the feature of Saturday, which meant that the data acquired yesterday will be vital in deciding the best strategy for tomorrow’s race, which regardless of the peculiarities of the Belgian summer, should take place on a dry track.

“Compared to last year, the new track surface has now shifted the balance significantly towards a two-stop strategy. It also means that the hardest tyre here, the C2, is now much more suitable for the race than it was twelve months ago, to the detriment of the softest C4. However, all three compounds are still perfectly viable, also because only four teams – Ferrari, McLaren, Mercedes and Alpine – have two sets of Hards available.

“On paper, the fastest strategy is to run the first stint on the Medium before doing a double stint on the Hard. The logical alternative is to go Medium/Hard/Medium but the Soft/Hard/Hard and Soft/Hard/Medium options cannot be ruled out. The one-stop is too slow, while the three-stop, even on a track where overtaking is definitely possible is, at least according to simulations, is not faster. A further consideration is that the set-up choices made today remain the same for tomorrow, given that the cars in are in parc ferme and that could also change the balance of power seen in qualifying.

“It’s worth noting that in qualifying run on a wet track and over seven kilometres, the top six drivers on the grid are all covered by just 430 thousandths. Of course there’s one driver who finished Q3 almost six tenths ahead of the rest, but he goes by the name of Max Verstappen…”

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