Belgian Grand Prix qualifying LIVE: Starting grid after Charles Leclerc inherits pole from Max Verstappen

Goodbye

That wraps up our coverage of today’s qualifying. A fascinating race in prospect with an unexpected front row and Verstappen on the charge from outside the top 10.

The full grid

So, with the penalties applied for Verstappen and Tsunoda, here’s how we expect the drivers to line up tomorrow.

1. Leclerc

2. Perez

3. Hamilton

4. Norris

5. Piastri

6. Russell

7. Sainz

8. Alonso

9. Ocon

10. Albon

11. Verstappen

12. Gasly

13. Ricciardo

14. Bottas

15. Stroll

16. Hulkenberg

17. Magnussen

18. Sargeant

19. Zhou

20. Tsunoda

Leclerc surprised by Spa pole

“I definitely did not expect that this weekend,” Sunday’s polesitter says. He adds that he was eyeing fifth if the session had been dry.

Perez: It was good to finally put it together

Sergio Perez speaks to Billy Monger in parc ferme:

“As always in these conditions, it’s so easy for it to go wrong, as it’s been in the last few qualifyings. It was good to finally put it together.”

Updated qualifying battles

Here’s how the teammate head-to-heads look after today’s session

Verstappen 14-0 Perez

Leclerc 8-5 Sainz

Russell 10-4 Hamilton

Norris 11-3 Piastri

Alonso 9-5 Stroll

Ocon 9-4 Gasly

Bottas 10-4 Zhou

Tsunoda 9-5 Ricciardo

Albon 13-0 Sargeant

Hulkenberg 10-3 Magnussen

Top 10 in Q3

Could that be a performance that saves Sergio Perez? He’ll share the front row with Leclerc, and second can be an excellent place to start here given the slipstream effect.

Here’s the top 10 in full

1. Verstappen (10-place penalty)

2. Leclerc

3. Perez

4. Hamilton

5. Norris

6. Piastri

7. Russell

8. Sainz

9. Alonso

10. Ocon

Charles Leclerc inherits pole!

Out of the blue, Charles Leclerc promotes himself to second, and with Verstappen’s penalty, that puts him on pole for tomorrow’s race!

Norris improves

The two Mercedes and the two McLarens both stayed out on the track to set another lap. Norris was the only driver to jump up the order, climbing from P6 to P4. Two minutes to go in Q3.

Below the Red Bulls

Hamilton set the initial benchmark but he’s now third, ahead of Piastri, Russell and Norris. Behind them, the two Ferraris have come into the pits, as have Alonso and Ocon.

Verstappen on provisional pole

Verstappen once again the class of the field as he sets the provisional pole time by six tenths. As it stands, it would be SERGIO PEREZ to inherit pole. Not many would have expected to see him up there on recent form.

Q3 begins

Time for the top-10 shootout then. The key here could be who finishes second, because the penalised Max Verstappen looks the favourite to top the times.

The 10 drivers in Q3

Verstappen was the quickest in that session, two-tenths ahead of the Mercedes. A reminder that he’s taking a 10-place penalty.

Full Q3 line-up: Verstappen, Hamilton, Russell, Sainz, Piastri, Leclerc, Alonso, Norris, Ocon, Perez

Perez through… JUST

Very nervy moments for Perez as he initially goes fourth but then gets bumped down the order. He ends up squeezing through in 10th, just three thousandths ahead of Alex Albon.

Pierre Gasly, Daniel Ricciardo, Valtteri Bottas and Lance Stroll are out.

Perez facing elimination

Final runs of Q2 now and Daniel Ricciardo has just nudged Sergio Perez into the drop zone. This is a pressure lap for the Mexican.

Five minutes to go

Russell, Gasly, Leclerc, Bottas and Stroll need to improve to make it into Q3. Perez reports that the conditions are getting worse rather than better.

Verstappen looking mighty

Just like in Q1, Verstappen seems to have more confidence than his competitors out of the blocks. He’s outpaced Lando Norris by six-tenths at the top of the timings.

Track drying

Onboard footage from George Russell shows that the track looks mostly dry in sector two, but it’s still pretty damp in sector one and through the final chicane. The drivers will have to stop those tyres overheating.

Time for Q2

Alex Albon, who has continued his streak of outqualifying Logan Sargeant for every Grand Prix since the start of last year, kicks us off for Q2. Still on the inters for now, but we should see the slicks before the end of qualifying without any further showers.

Who was fastest?

Oscar Piastri ended up with the quickest time in Q1, with Pierre Gasly the standout in second for Alpine. Verstappen dropped to third in his Red Bull, while Perez was an encouraging fourth.

Lando Norris and Lewis Hamilton squeezed through in 12th and 13th.

Out in Q1

That’s it for Q1, and the frontrunners are safely through. There’s disappointment for Haas, though, as they lose both cars.

16th – Hulkenberg

17th – Magnussen

18th – Tsunoda (60-place penalty)

19th – Sargeant

20th – Zhou

Russell goes P3

That should be comfortably enough for Russell. He goes P3. Meanwhile, Max Verstappen complains about Zhou Guanyu holding him up, and the stewards will investigate.

George Russell in the drop zone

George Russell is about to start another flying lap, and he needs it to be a good one. He’s fallen to 17th in the order with two minutes remaining.

Five minutes to go

We’re into the closing stages of Q1, so here’s the bottom five as it stands – Magnussen, Albon, Hulkenberg, Sargeant and Stroll. There’s still plenty of potential for upsets here, though.

Verstappen sets early pace

Every driver now has a lap time on the board, and it’s Verstappen who’s quickest out the box – and by some margin too. He’s just under a second clear of Oscar Piastri.

“This is where Verstappen is unbelievable,” Martin Brundle says on Sky Sports F1.

Expect the order to change continuously as the conditions evolve.

McLaren radio to Norris

McLaren race engineer Will Joseph tells Lando Norris that more rain is expected in just two minutes. George Russell is the last car to emerge from the pitlane – will he miss the best of the conditions?

Qualifying underway

Lando Norris leads a queue of cars coming out of the pits as qualifying begins. All the drivers are running the intermediates rather than the full wets.

Official risk of rain

A message from race control confirms that there’s an 80% chance of rain during the session. This could be the kind of qualifying hour (or more) where you need to be on the circuit at the right time in order to progress.

Mercedes remove upgrades

With the rain falling at Spa, Mercedes have removed the new floor they introduced on Friday. It seems they want to evaluate it on a more conventional dry weekend.

They weren’t able to set a representative lap in FP3, so let’s see how they fare here.

What’s happening with the weather?

BBC Sport’s Andrew Benson reports that the rain has stopped ahead of qualifying. However, further showers are expected after 4pm local time.

Brundle names Perez replacement

Speaking in the build-up to qualifying on Sky Sports F1, Martin Brundle has told Red Bull to bring back Daniel Ricciardo if they decide to drop Sergio Perez during the summer break.

“I don’t think they’d take a risk on Liam Lawson, and scramble his head up against the might of Max Verstappen,” he said. “Surely they would put Daniel Ricciardo in the car if they’re going to make a change mid-season?”

Will Lance Stroll feature in qualifying?

F1TV presenter Will Buxton has an update from Aston Martin, where Fernando Alonso’s mechanics are helping with the repairs on Lance Stroll’s car. They’re replacing the power unit, gearbox, floor and more crucial components too.

It’s unclear at this stage whether he’ll be able to take part in the session, with 35 minutes to go.

What happened in FP3?

There was very little running in the final practice session after the anticipated downpour at Spa. Max Verstappen set the best time, but Lance Stroll gave Aston Martin some repair work after crashing at Radillon.

There were also near-misses for Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz and McLaren’s Lando Norris. Much of the session was covered by red flags as the FIA deemed the conditions unsafe for running. But if there’s any track where drivers are used to dealing with the rain, it’s Spa.

Who has the most poles at Spa?

No surprises – Lewis Hamilton is the most successful driver in qualifying at Spa. He’s taken pole here six times, four more than any other active driver.

Charles Leclerc, Max Verstappen and Carlos Sainz have all been fastest on a Saturday in Belgium too.

FIA launch investigation at Belgian Grand Prix

During FP1 on Friday, multiple teams had to run with cameras on the front of their cars. this is part of an FIA investigation into flexible bodywork, which is outlawed under the regulations.

Martin Brundle thinks it could ‘scramble the pack’ if F1’s governing body change the rules during the summer break.

Some teams would be more affected than others. Karun Chandhok spotted the Mercedes wing moving significantly in a slow-motion replay, so perhaps a clampdown would hit the Silver Arrows particularly hard.

Esteban Ocon joins Haas

The key development in the driver market ahead of this weekend’s race was Haas’ announcement that they have signed Esteban Ocon for 2025 and beyond.

Haas will field an all-new driver line-up next year after unveiling rookie Oliver Bearman earlier this month.

They have known since April that Nico Hulkenberg would be leaving the team to join midfield rivals Sauber/Audi.

But if Bearman was simply filling that void, Ocon is directly replacing Kevin Magnussen. There’s a vacancy at Alpine as a result, but Magnussen seems more likely to explore another series at this stage of his career.

Where is Carlos Sainz going for 2025?

The summer break is approaching and we still don’t know where Carlos Sainz will end up. There appear to be four teams still in play.

The first of those is Williams. The Sainz camp were seen leaving the Williams motorhome in the Belgian GP paddock on Friday, which could point to fresh talks.

Alpine remain a contender, with the seat alongside Pierre Gasly still yet to be filled. Sainz previously raced for them when they were known as Renaut.

Audi/Sauber have held a long-term interest, but it hasn’t been reciprocated up to this point. However, new boss Mattia Binotto could make a fresh push to sign Sainz after working with him at Ferrari.

Of course, what he really wants is to join Mercedes. But Kimi Antonelli now looks virtually certain to replace Lewis Hamilton after wins in consecutive F2 weekends.

A vital weekend for Sergio Perez

Sergio Perez desperately needs a strong qualifying today as he fights to keep his Red Bull seat for the remainder of the season.

Qualifying has been the root of Perez’s downfall lately, with the Mexican suffering four Q1 exits in the last seven events.

There’s added pressure too following Verstappen’s penalty, which presents an opportunity for McLaren to close the gap in the constructors’ championship.

Will Buxton thinks ‘it’s curtains’ for Perez if he ends up starting behind his teammate even after his demotion. Based on recent events, that’s a genuine possibility.

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Bruno Famin to leave Alpine role

There was a major announcement in between the sessions on Friday as Bruno Famin confirmed that he’d be leaving his post at Alpine by the end of August.

While he’ll no longer be team principal, he’ll remain within the company as he heads up other motorsport activities a Viry.

Famin was only appointed around a year ago after the shock dismissal of predecessor Otmar Szafnauer.

The early favourite to replace him is Oliver Oakes, who founded the Hitech GP team. Hitech compete in F2 and F3, among other series.

Intriguingly, one journalist believes Oakes could attempt to bring Paul Aron with him to Alpine. Aron has impressed for the team in F2 and may now be a contender for an F1 seat.

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Why does Max Verstappen have an engine penalty?

Verstappen is set to start 10 places lower than he qualifies today. But what rule has he broken?

Well, drivers are only allowed to use four internal combustion engines over the course of a season. This is partly to keep costs under control and prevent the wealthier teams in F1 repeatedly installing fresh units.

Verstappen has now taken his fifth ICE of the campaign. This is the knock-on effect of a failure in Canada last month.

The rules state that drivers will receive a 10-place demotion when they exceed the allocation.

And what about FP2?

McLaren fought back in the second practice session, with Lando Norris leading a one-two ahead of Piastri. Verstappen was third-quickest.

Elsewhere, it was a difficult afternoon for Mercedes, with both cars over a second off the pace. Esteban Ocon and Kevin Magnussen impressed for Alpine and Haas respectively.

What happened in FP1?

Max Verstappen was quickest in the opening practice session on Friday, setting an ominous pace. His nearest challenger Oscar Piastri was a full half a second adrift.

The bulk of Red Bull’s advantage seemed to lie in the middle sector. It was nip-and-tuck between Verstappen and his rivals in the first and third segments, but he stretched out a huge advantage through the high-speed corners of S2.

That speaks to the importance of nailing the set-up compromise at Spa. The lap starts and ends with extended periods at full throttle, but a degree of downforce is also required for corners like Pouhon.

Welcome

Good morning everyone and welcome to our live coverage. Spa is notorious for its unique microclimate, and there’s a strong chance of rain this afternoon, which could make for an epic session.