Max Verstappen in the Red Bull was clearly the fastest on a partially wet track, but the world champion was relegated ten places down the grid from first place due to an early engine change. Sergio Perez, who has been heavily criticized, followed in third place in the second Red Bull car.
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Verstappen was 0.595 seconds faster than Leclerc and was 0.606 ahead of Perez. “Can we call this pole, somehow, here again?” Verstappen jokingly asked his crew, laughing. Lewis Hamilton came in fourth, followed by the two McLarens of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri. The 14th Grand Prix of this year will take place on Sunday (3 p.m./live ServusTV, Sky).
“The car worked quite well in the wet, so I was able to just do my laps. Tomorrow is a different day, warmer, no rain,” explained Verstappen, who will start the race from eleventh place on the grid. “I don’t know how fast we will be, but I hope we can compete. The race can be lost in Turn 1, so I’ll just have to see what happens.”
“I don’t want to complain”
Leclerc said he “definitely didn’t expect to achieve anything above our expectations this weekend in the difficult conditions. Without the rain, P5 was the position we were fighting for with the Mercedes – the rain helped us but I don’t want to complain. I’m really happy.”
The Monegasque was already pole man in Spa last year, when Verstappen, who was the fastest in qualifying, also received a five-position grid penalty. This year he was able to celebrate the 25th pole position of his career. In the World Championship standings, Verstappen continues to lead Norris by a comfortable 76 points. Leclerc is third, 103 points behind Verstappen.
“It was good that it finally worked,” said the relieved Mexican Perez. “Unfortunately, we didn’t have any new tires in Q3.” He has always said, “every weekend is a new chance to improve.” The Red Bull officials want to decide on Perez’s immediate future next Monday, as Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko confirmed.
Verstappen had set the fastest time in the rainy final practice session. The drivers only completed a few laps in difficult conditions. After just twelve minutes, the session on the slippery asphalt was temporarily interrupted after Lance Stroll crashed into the track barrier in his Aston Martin and damaged the front suspension. The Canadian was able to get out of his car on his own, however.
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Source: Nachrichten
