Pole position qualifier Max Verstappen of the Netherlands and Oracle Red Bull Racing celebrates in parc ferme during qualifying ahead of the F1 Grand Prix of Belgium at Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps on July 28, 2023, in Spa, Belgium. (Photo by Mark Thompson/Getty Images)
STAVELOT, Belgium – Another Grand Prix weekend for Formula 1, another visit from Mother Nature that has impacted at least one day’s track time for the seventh time in a row. The F1 calendar has reached the famed Spa Franchonchamps, one of the longest and fastest tracks for the third Sprint Weekend of the year. As a reminder, a Sprint Weekend has a different style schedule that sees the Friday track sessions have the only practice session of the weekend, followed by the Grand Prix qualifying. On Saturday, Sprint Race Qualifying kicks off the day before the Sprint Race, and finally, on Sunday, the usual Grand Prix.
The track was finally opened for the lone practice session, and teams were met with rain and plenty of it. Teams took to the way on a rare occasion using the Full Wet compound tires as the heavy rain fell. Because of the conditions, most teams opted not to put much effort as the heavy rain fell, opting and hoping for better conditions later in the session.
Championship leader Max Verstappen did not set a time in his Red Bull, along with the Aston Martin driver of Lance Stroll and the Alpine pair of Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly. On the sharper end of the field, Carlos Sainz set the fastest time in his Ferrari, followed by the McLaren teammates of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri ahead of the other Ferrari of Charles Leclerc. The Red Bull of Sergio Perez closed out the Top five.
The session ended when the Williams of Logan Sargeant went off at Les Combes after running long and being unable to turn. The rain picked up while the track crew was cleaning away the stricken Williams, making it less likely to get better times, even when the red flag was lifted with a handful of minutes remaining in the session.
Between the practice and Grand Prix qualifying sessions, Red Bull announced that Verstappen would be taking a five-place grid penalty after taking on his fifth gearbox of the season. The penalty will only be assessed for the Grand Prix, not the Sprint Race.
Sergio Perez of Mexico driving the (11) Oracle Red Bull Racing RB19 on track during practice ahead of the F1 Grand Prix of Belgium at Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps on July 28, 2023 in Spa, Belgium. (Photo by Dan Mullan/Getty Images)
It was into the unknown due to the limited practice time when the track finally went green for the first round of qualifying. Conditions changed throughout the sessions as teams went from the Intermediate compound tires to dry tires. Mercedes sent out both drivers first, with George Russell setting the benchmark in the wet conditions with his teammate Lewis Hamilton sandwiching Verstappen between them.
But the show of the early sessions came from the sensational Australian rookie from McLaren, Piastri, as he immediately found confidence and set quick times through Q1. His teammate, Norris, also looked to be short. However, he found himself in the gravel in Turn 15 with possible rear wing damage. But his lap time was fast enough to make it to the next round.
However, not cutting came both Williams drivers of Alex Albon and Sargeant, who made it to the qualifying round, albeit with a new gearbox. Joining them came the Alfa Romeo of Zhou Guanyu, after an impressive qualifying effort the week prior, and the AlphaTauri of Daniel Ricciardo plus the Haas of Nico Hulkenberg. The Ferrari of Leclerc put his car to the top of the timing charts as the track conditions continued to improve.
The second round of qualifying had all the drama that would come with changing track conditions, giving teams a chance to move to dry compound tires. Once the light turned green, teams started on the Intermediate tires and times began to drop. Rather quickly, teams switched to Soft tires, meaning times would get even quicker.
Rookie standout Piastri started swapping fast time around with him and the two Ferrari cars and the two Mercedes cars as drivers began to get more and more comfortable with the ever-increasing drying track. But while some drivers were as comfortable as possible, some weren’t.
Alpine, looking to stabilize the ship, had hoped they would get a reasonable qualifying effort. However, Esteban Ocon slid into the wall at Turn 9, damaging his front wing. Meanwhile, in the Red Bull paddock, Verstappen hadn’t gotten comfortable with his Soft tires and couldn’t put in a great time and barely slid into the final round with the 10th fastest time of the session.
Not making it through Q2, joining Ocon, who wasn’t able to recover from sliding into the wall, came AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda, the Haas of Kevin Magnussen, who stumbled through the session’s end, the Alfa Romeo of Valtteri Bottas, and the other Alpine of Pierre Gasly.
From 20 came 10; the top five teams were to duke it out for the pole for the Grand Prix on Sunday. Both Red Bulls, Ferraris, Mercedes, McLarens, and Aston Martins. Most teams had the same idea, one banker lap then wait for the end of the session for their second lap. Mercedes sent both drivers to do two laps, but Leclerc set the benchmark for the session.
Leclerc crossed the line for his final lap, but winning the pole wasn’t meant to be as Verstappen stormed eight-tenths of a second up the field to take the fastest time. Perez followed Leclerc, with Hamilton and Sainz closing out the top five. Behind them, the McLaren duo couldn’t replicate their early session magic, only besting sixth and seventh. Russell couldn’t go as fast as eight, with the Aston Martin duo of Fernando Alonso and Stroll closing out the Top 10.
With the field mostly set for Sunday’s Grand Prix, save for Verstappen’s five-place grid penalty that will have him start sixth on Sunday, plus the possibility of more sentences to be handed out to jumble up the grid, all eyes turn to Saturday for the Sprint Qualifying and Race. Will Red Bull and Verstappen continue to increase their lead, or will Ferrari, McLaren, or Mercedes put up a fight?
