2024 Belgian GP Qualifying: Verstappen P1 ahead of grid penalty

Max Verstappen set the fastest time in qualifying for the 2024 Belgian Grand Prix, but he would start from P11 due to a 10-place grid penalty for a power unit change. This penalty meant Charles Leclerc would inherit pole position.

Verstappen looked dominant as the session progressed, setting an unbeatable lap of 1m 53.159s in his Red Bull, half a second clear of Ferrari’s Leclerc. Sergio Perez also had a strong qualifying, putting his Red Bull in P3, ahead of Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton in P4.

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Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri secured fifth and sixth places for McLaren, with the Mercedes of George Russell following in seventh.

Carlos Sainz claimed P8 for Ferrari, while Fernando Alonso took P9 in the Aston Martin, and Esteban Ocon rounded out the top ten for Alpine.

Alex Albon narrowly missed out on Q3 by just three thousandths of a second in the Williams, putting him in P11, followed by Pierre Gasly in P12 for Alpine.

Daniel Ricciardo qualified 13th in the RB, ahead of Kick Sauber’s Valtteri Bottas in 14th and Lance Stroll, whose Aston Martin was repaired in time to participate after his FP3 crash, in 15th.

The Haas pair, Nico Hulkenberg and Kevin Magnussen, had a disappointing day, exiting in Q1 in 16th and 17th. Yuki Tsunoda was also eliminated in 18th but was already set to start from the back due to an engine penalty.

Logan Sargeant ended the day in P19 for Williams, with the Kick Sauber of Zhou Guanyu in 20th place.

Belgian GP Qualifying Results

2024 Belgian Grand Prix Qualifying, 27 July 2024

Pos	No	Driver	Car	Q1	Q2	Q3	Laps
1	1	Max Verstappen*	Red Bull Racing Honda RBPT	1:54.938	1:53.837	1:53.159	21
2	16	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	1:55.349	1:54.193	1:53.754	22
3	11	Sergio Perez	Red Bull Racing Honda RBPT	1:55.139	1:54.470	1:53.765	21
4	44	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	1:55.692	1:54.037	1:53.835	22
5	4	Lando Norris	McLaren Mercedes	1:55.582	1:54.358	1:53.981	24
6	81	Oscar Piastri	McLaren Mercedes	1:54.835	1:54.136	1:54.027	23
7	63	George Russell	Mercedes	1:55.353	1:54.095	1:54.184	22
8	55	Carlos Sainz	Ferrari	1:55.169	1:54.112	1:54.477	23
9	14	Fernando Alonso	Aston Martin Aramco Mercedes	1:55.489	1:54.258	1:54.765	23
10	31	Esteban Ocon	Alpine Renault	1:55.417	1:54.460	1:54.810	23
11	23	Alexander Albon	Williams Mercedes	1:55.722	1:54.473		16
12	10	Pierre Gasly	Alpine Renault	1:54.911	1:54.635		17
13	3	Daniel Ricciardo	RB Honda RBPT	1:55.451	1:54.682		14
14	77	Valtteri Bottas	Kick Sauber Ferrari	1:55.531	1:54.764		17
15	18	Lance Stroll	Aston Martin Aramco Mercedes	1:56.072	1:55.716		17
16	27	Nico Hulkenberg	Haas Ferrari	1:56.308			9
17	20	Kevin Magnussen	Haas Ferrari	1:56.500			9
18	22	Yuki Tsunoda	RB Honda RBPT	1:56.593			8
19	2	Logan Sargeant	Williams Mercedes	1:57.230			8
20	24	Zhou Guanyu	Kick Sauber Ferrari	1:57.775			9

*Max Verstappen received a 10-place grid penalty for exceeding the season’s engine limit, placing him in 11th position for the starting grid.

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Ben is a staff writer specialising in F1 from the 1990s to the modern era. Ben has been following Formula 1 since 1986 and is an avid researcher who loves understanding the technology that makes it one of the most exciting motorsport on the planet. He listens to podcasts about F1 on a daily basis, and enjoys reading books from the inspirational Adrian Newey to former F1 drivers.