Verstappen fastest but Leclerc takes pole position in Belgium

Verstappen controlled the whole qualifying session, often leading by a large margin. That was no different at the start of Q3, as he went six-tenths faster than Perez in P2. Mercedes and McLaren split the following places, as Ferrari sat in P7 and P8 after the first run. Mercedes and McLaren stayed on the track and completed more laps. Leclerc hooked three sectors together to pip Perez to P2 and, therefore, take pole position.

Perez desperately needed a positive qualifying session after recent Q1 knockouts and a crash last weekend in Hungary. The Mexican found himself moving up and down the leaderboard in Q1 but comfortably survived. Q2 was more of a nervy moment for Perez, who survived by just 0.003 seconds. Despite that, Perez did well in Q3 to secure a place on the front-row.

Q1

Much of FP3 was red-flagged, and the Formula 2 sprint race was postponed, but qualifying started on time after a break in the rain. A rush out of the pitlane occurred as soon as the green light came on because there was more rain in the area. McLaren were concerned about imminent rain and got their first laps in early. The track was slightly drier when Verstappen completed his lap, and he went 1.4 faster than Piastri. By this time, Norris was pushed into the drop zone. The second time around, he pulled himself up but remained vulnerable.

With seven minutes to go, both Haas drivers, both Williams drivers, and Lance Stroll were in the elimination zone. By the time Perez started his final lap on new inters, he was inside the drop zone. But he lifted himself up to P4, two-tenths behind his teammate. Both Haas drivers remained and were joined by Logan Sargeant, Zhou Guanyu and Yuki Tsunoda. The Japanese driver will start at the back after taking an engine penalty. 

Out - P16 Hulkenberg, P17 Magnussen, P18 Tsunoda, P19 Sargeant, P20 Zhou

Q2

This time around, Norris went straight to the top of the timesheets. But other big names didn't get to enjoy the same situation. Russell and Leclerc both found themselves in the drop zone with five minutes remaining, and Hamilton and Sainz were on the edge. Russell pulled himself out with four minutes left, but was still almost nine-tenths down on the Dutchman.

Perez then dipped into the drop zone after Ferrari and Mercedes improved. Under pressure, Perez lifted himself up but remained vulnerable, with others showing strong pace. That included both Mercedes drivers who got closest to Verstappen's P1 time. Perez made it through by just 0.003 seconds.

Out - P11 Albon, P12 Gasly, P13 Ricciardo, P14 Bottas, P15 Stroll