Leclerc has pole at Belgian GP; Verstappen 11th after penalty

SPA-FRANCORCHAMPS, Belgium (AP) — Charles Leclerc will start the Belgian Grand Prix from pole position after clocking the second best time in qualifying behind Max Verstappen, who faces a 10-place grid penalty for the race.

Verstappen topped the time sheets in his Red Bull on Saturday on the rainy track in the forested hills of the Ardennes. But the Formula One leader will start Sunday’s race from 11th because of the penalty after Red Bull exceeded the allowed number of power units when they put a new engine into his car.

Leclerc was the next fastest in his Ferrari, followed by Red Bull’s Sergio Pérez. The Mexican driver will will start from second. Lewis Hamilton will start from third followed by McLaren pair Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri.

Verstappen holds a relatively comfortable 76-point lead over Norris in the overall standings despite having gone three races without a win for the first time since 2021.

After McLaren was faster last week with its one-two at Hungary, Verstappen showed he can't be ruled out in Belgium even if he will have to fight his way from well back. He won here in 2022 from 14th and last year from sixth, after all.

“I knew that I would have to start from 10 places back, so this was the best I could do today,” Verstappen said.

“We are not making it easy on ourselves, in the battle we are in. Today was a great day, but it was in the wet and tomorrow will be dry. Hopefully we can battle with the Mercedes and Ferrari ahead, and hopefully with a little bit of luck we can challenge the McLaren.”

His rivals sure expect to have Verstappen in their mirrors soon enough.

Norris was fastest in dry conditions during practice on Friday, but the British driver now appears to feel that Red Bull has found the edge.

“The Red Bull was on another level to us in the rain,” Norris said. “It will be tough. Max is going to come through quite quickly still, and most likely we will be fighting with him for the win.”

Hamilton agreed, saying that his most likely goal will be to try to fend off his chasers and aim for the podium.

“Max will make his way through pretty quick. I think that car is the fastest here this week, at least tied with McLaren,” Hamilton said.

After heavy rain during the final practice kept the cars in the garages for long periods and led to officials to postpone the F2 sprint race, a steady drizzle fell on the track during qualifying. The cars kicked up spray trails as they sped through the longest track in F1, seven kilometers (4.3 miles).

It was déjà vu for Leclerc from last year’s race, when he likewise inherited pole from Verstappen after the Dutchman got a five-place penalty.

“Exactly the same,” Leclerc said. “I think that without this rain probably P5 (fifth place) was the position we were fighting for, but I can't complain.”

The eight cars from Red Bull, McLaren, Mercedes and Ferrari all made it into the final segment of qualifying of the top 10 cars.

Pérez arguably got the most out of the session with a performance that was about to put him on pole if it hadn't been for Leclerc's last flying lap. Pérez struggled mightily in qualifying recently and has been the subject of speculation that Red Bull might even replace him midseason.

“It was good to finally put it together,” Pérez said. “Like I’ve always said, every weekend is a new opportunity to do better.”

Yuki Tsunoda of RB will start from the back of the grid after also exceeding his number of new engines and the addition of other new parts.

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