When the Belgian Grand Prix gets underway tomorrow at 15 CEST, Scuderia Ferrari HP’s Charles Leclerc will line up in pole position. In a tricky rain affected session, the Monegasque did brilliantly to set the second fastest time, after which he was promoted to the first place on the grid because Max Verstappen came into qualifying already knowing that he would have to take a ten place grid penalty for changing the power unit on his car. This is therefore Charles’ 25th pole in Formula 1, the 251st for Ferrari. Carlos Sainz fared less well, not getting the most out of his new Intermediate tyres on his last run and will start from the fourth row.
The right decisions. Qualifying was wet which made it very unpredictable, with all the drivers out on track all the time on Intermediate tyres, a particularly difficult situation to manage as the number of sets available is limited. Charles and Carlos used two in Q1 and so in Q2 they made their first run on the second set used in the previous session. Their initial times were not good enough to make the cut, so they fitted a new set as the rain intensified. Both did a very good job of making the most of the fresh rubber, getting to the final phase at which point the team adopted the same strategy as in Q2, sending both drivers out on used tyres with which Leclerc posted a 1’54”487 and Sainz a 1’54”518. The two SF-24s then pitted for the last new sets and went out to attempt just one timed lap. Despite the rain, which had intensified at some parts of the track, Charles produced a perfect lap, making the most of the grip from the new tyres, setting the second fastest time of 1’53”754 behind Verstappen, while Carlos struggled to find grip and made a small mistake, therefore only improving by a small margin, getting down to 1’54”477, which secured him eighth place, which then became seventh because of the penalty for Red Bull’s number 1 car.
A close and unpredictable race. Tomorrow’s 44 lap Grand Prix looks more open than ever: the weather forecast is uncertain and overtaking at Spa-Francorchamps is always possible. However, it is clear that the new track surface increases tyre degradation. Charles and Carlos will have to make the most of the start from their respective positions, the former in trying to pull away from the train of cars behind, all aiming to use DRS, while Carlos will be looking to move up the order, having shown that he had the potential to have started a few rows further forward.
Charles Leclerc #16
It feels good to be starting at the front of the grid. It isn't the easiest track on which to defend the first position on the opening lap, but I will do everything to convert this to a victory for the team. The weather conditions played their part and today’s result exceeded our expectations.
Our focus will now shift to getting ready to do the same in dry conditions tomorrow.
Carlos Sainz #55
I cannot be happy with the end result today because I was fast during the entire session and I didn’t extract the maximum out of the last set of tyres in Q3. Immediately into turn 1 I felt I didn't have the same grip as I had during the previous runs and the entire lap was a struggle. I need to understand what I did differently to have such low grip.
As for tomorrow, the race will be open and the goal will be to gain positions and fight at the front. It's difficult to predict what conditions we will find in the race, but I'm sure there will be opportunities.
Fred Vasseur Team Principal Scuderia Ferrari HP
We can be pleased with today’s result, as I always prefer to have a car starting from pole... Of course it will be interesting to see what happens between the start line and turn 5, as it can be tricky to keep the lead at Spa-Francorchamps on the opening lap. Charles drove a great lap and we got the strategy right, deciding to refuel between the two runs in Q3 and to keep the fresh set for the end to make the most of it in the final minutes of Q3. As for Carlos, the pace was there all through the session, but he made a small mistake at the beginning of the last lap and couldn’t extract everything from his fresh tyres.
We don’t know what will happen tomorrow, but starting from pole is the first step in the right direction. Now we need to have a good start and get through Raidillon well keeping the lead with Charles. We know Max (Verstappen) can still be a danger and that McLaren will also be quick, so we must focus on ourselves, knowing that our long stint yesterday looked good.