Red Bull Racing driver Max Verstappen dominated the Belgian Grand Prix, round 14 of the 2022 F1 season, with the fastest time in qualifying, while Ferrari rival Carlos Sainz secured pole position due to Verstappen’s drop in the standings following Punishment.
This qualifying session, at Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, was complicated, with 7 drivers receiving relegation penalties from qualifying for the use of new power unit components.
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These drivers were: Max Verstappen (Red Bull), Charles Leclerc (Ferrari), Esteban Ocon (Albin), Lando Norris (McLaren), Guanyu Joe (Alfa Romeo), Mick Schumacher (Haas), Valtteri Bottas (Alfa Romeo).
But even so, for Verstappen, Leclerc, Ocon and Norris, these drivers took part in all sections of the qualifying session with competitive timings all the way to the third qualifying session.
It was clear, right from the start of qualifying, that Verstappen had a comfortable advantage over his rivals, and in the crucial third section, the Dutch world champion took to the track on his first fast lap, clocking 1:43.665, then went back to the pit and chose not to complete a fast lap. additional.
Verstappen exited his car and continued the rest of the qualifying session, as he continued to see that his rivals, even in their second fast laps, might not outpace him, while retaining the fastest time, 0.632s ahead of Sainz, who secured pole following Verstappen’s penalty.
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Sergio Perez was content with setting the third-fastest time in qualifying for Red Bull, while Charles Leclerc finished fourth for Ferrari, who made a fatal strategic error at the start of Q3 with a new set of soft tires for the race.
In this qualifying session, Leclerc outperformed the Alpine duo, who will see Fernando Alonso start from third following penalties, just behind Sainz and Perez, and Alonso beat the Mercedes pair.
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The Mercedes team suffered in this circuit, especially with the low temperatures and the inability to have the tires in the ideal working range, and the team was satisfied with the presence of Lewis Hamilton and George Russell in seventh and eighth places, respectively, but they will start from fourth and fifth following penalties, and with the superiority of the Williams team driver Alexander Albon, who excelled and managed to qualify in the top ten.
