Martin Brundle absolutely loves one ‘beautiful’ Belgian GP lap he barely saw

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Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc inherited pole position for the Belgian Grand Prix after a penalty for Max Verstappen. Verstappen carried a 10-place demotion into qualifying after taking his fifth ICE of the season.

The Dutchman blitzed the rest of the field in Q3, outpacing Leclerc by nearly six-tenths of a second. In truth, that kind of performance looked to be on the cards from the first lap in Q1.

But though Saturday’s session was a throwback to Verstappen’s dominance in 2023 and early 2024, he ultimately dropped out of the top 10. Even Leclerc himself was surprised that he set the second-fastest time.

While teammate Carlos Sainz was criticised for overdriving after lapping seven-tenths slower, Leclerc made full use of a fresh set of tyres at the end of the session. He pipped Sergio Perez, who was Verstappen’s closest challenger after the first runs.

Mercedes and McLaren used up more of their allocation in the first two segments of qualifying. Lewis Hamilton was just under a tenth shy of Leclerc as he led Lando Norris, Oscar Piastri and George Russell.

The record books will show that Leclerc has now reached 25 poles for his career. It’s the second time this season he’ll start at the front, though it will be much easier to overtake at Spa than it was in Monaco.

Martin Brundle applauds Charles Leclerc lap at Belgian GP

Speaking during his Sky Sports F1 commentary, Martin Brundle commended Leclerc’s effort. It wasn’t necessarily a spectacular lap, but it was clean from start to finish.

And in tricky conditions, that made all the difference. Leclerc has built a reputation as one of the very best on the grid over a single lap, and he now leads teammate Sainz 8-5 in qualifying for the season.

Brundle, who had been watching Sainz’s lap on the main feed, said: “Leclerc has pulled a beautiful lap out of the bag! We didn’t really see much of it. He did three really nice sectors. He hooked all three sectors up.

“Nothing was jumping out of the timing screens. He’s not fastest in any of the three sectors. He just put together a very complete lap.”

Remarkably, the 26-year-old also benefitted from a Verstappen penalty to take pole at this venue last year. However, the world champion’s advantage over the field was such that he was still able to take a comfortable victory from sixth.

Spa is a particularly special circuit for Leclerc given that it was the site of his first F1 win back in 2019. He’s added five more to his tally since.

Brundle has recently criticised Leclerc

In a way, Leclerc’s performance at Spa was a response to recent criticism from Brundle. Since he conquered the ‘Monaco curse’ at the end of May, he’s endured a tricky spell.

After a 25-point haul on home soil, Leclerc has only taken 24 in the last five races – including a Sprint weekend in Austria. It’s a run that has included a DNF in Canada, two Q1 exits and consecutive scoreless showings at the Red Bull Ring and Silverstone.

After the British GP, Brundle wrote (Sky Sports) that Leclerc was having an ‘especially difficult time’. But this could change the narrative heading into the summer break.

He’s trying to establish himself as the team’s number-one driver ahead of Sainz’s exit. Peter Windsor has warned that Leclerc could be ‘extremely annoyed’ by the speed of Hamilton, and yearn for the days of racing alongside the Spaniard.