Verstappen Beats Russell To Belgian GP Pole
Calum Gill 16:53 28/08/2021
Red Bull's Max Verstappen took pole position in a dramatic, wet qualifying at the Belgian Grand Prix with an outstanding lap from George Russell putting him in second place.
Verstappen's lap prevented Russell from taking what would have been one of the most unexpected pole positions in Formula 1 history in the uncompetitive Williams. Even so, it was a remarkable performance from Russell, who missed out on pole by 0.321 seconds. Verstappen's title rival Lewis Hamilton was third fastest in the Mercedes.
And there was a big accident for McLaren's Lando Norris, who crashed at Eau Rouge in the McLaren in the wettest conditions of the session, bringing out the red flag and leading to a long delay while the rain abated a little. Norris, who was fastest in the first two sessions, was sent to hospital after initial checks at the circuit for what McLaren called "a precautionary X-ray of his elbow". He has since been passed fit to race on Sunday.
Daniel Ricciardo delivered his best qualifying result of the season, ahead of Aston Martin's Sebastian Vettel and Pierre Gasly in the AlphaTauri. Sergio Perez put the second Red Bull car just ahead of the second Mercedes, piloted by Valtteri Bottas. Winner last time out in Hungary Esteban Ocon put his Alpine ninth, with Norris rounding out the top ten, after failing to set a lap time in Q3.
What about that from Russell
The laps by Verstappen and Hamilton were impressive by themselves - the Dutchman was 2.6 seconds quicker than team-mate Sergio Perez in seventh and Hamilton was 2.4 seconds ahead of his team-mate Valtteri Bottas. But they were both put in the shade by Russell, who underlined yet again why he is regarded as one of the superstars of the future and a hot tip to replace Bottas alongside Hamilton at Mercedes next year.
Russell said: "I was in the fortunate position that I had nothing to lose. We just had to go for it. We saved the full maximum engine mode for the last lap, but (I'm) buzzing, absolutely buzzing. But tomorrow is the important one." Hamilton said: "Great job by George. That's fantastic." Pole gives Verstappen a boost as he heads into the race eight points behind Hamilton in the championship, and he now has an opportunity to make amends after a difficult two races in Britain and Hungary.
Verstappen said: "It has been a really tricky qualifying. It has ben hard to keep the car on track. And then the long break between Q2 and Q3 it is not easy to settle in again. It is an amazing track to drive but very challenging in the wet."
The rest of the grid
Williams' Nicholas Latifi was sandwiched in 12th place by the two Ferrari's, with Charles Leclerc 11th and Carlos Sainz 13th. Fernando Alonso could only manage 14th place for the Alpine team, ahead of Lance Stroll in the Aston Martin. Antonio Giovinazzi was 16th, ahead of Yuki Tsunoda (AlphaTauri) and Mick Schumacher (Haas). Alfa-Romeo's Kimi Raikkonen and Haas driver Nikita Mazepin rounded out the grid.
