Formula 1: Max Verstappen was quickest in qualifying but will serve a 10-place grid penalty so Charles Leclerc.
There’s only one question on the lips of the paddock on Sunday in Belgium : can Max Verstappen win from 11th?But while Verstappen’s pace looked ominous in qualifying, today Red Bull Racing car enjoys nothing like the advantage it’s had in the past in dry conditions.
The Mexican’s worst qualifying results have tended to come in tricky conditions. Just last week in Hungary it was a wet kerb that sent him spinning into the barriers in Q1.The set-up question in Belgium is always about trading top speed down the long straights for downforce for performance through the middle sector. Downforce leaves a car vulnerable to being passed easily down the straights in the race, but it’s better for tyre life and strategy.
Third in qualifying is his best result by position since the Chinese Grand Prix, and qualifying two places behind Verstappen is his best Saturday result relative to his teammate since that same race. That places it bang in the middle of his average qualifying deficits to Verstappen when the season’s other results are also adjusted to a normalised length.You’ll note Belgium still ranks behind every race that came before Imola, though it’s ahead of every race that’s come since then except for Monaco — though in Monte Carlo Verstappen hit the barriers on his final lap, skewing that gap in Pérez’s favour.
But the team is far more optimistic about its chances in the grand prix, when it could still make further inroads on Red Bull Racing’s title lead. “We were ready to pay a bit of a price in qualifying because we want to have the most reasonable car tomorrow in the right conditions. Considering the team looked comfortably a step ahead of every other car and a match for Red Bull Racing in the dry, another big result beckons.
At the end of the first laps of Q2 he was looking good for progression, running seventh and almost 0.2 seconds clear of the drop zone.
Closest Qualifying Results Eastern Europe Right Direction Worst Qualifying Results Abysmal Straight-Line Performance Constructors Championship Battle Mixed-Conditions Session On-Paper Result North America Short-Run Pace Grid Penalty Austria Reasonable Car Tomorrow Midfield Cars Mexican Driver Western Asia Eastern Asia Wet-Weather Qualifying Lando Norris Northern Europe Hungary Grand Prix Weather Forecast Model Europe Japan Sector Data Time Relative Positive Trend Recovery Drive Florida Bahrain Comfortable Victor Western Europe Budapest Qualifying Session Canada Northern America Straight-Line Speed Belgium Monte Carlo Verstappen Sergio Pérez Sliding Doors Moment Death Knell Downforce Means Southern Europe Qualifying Results Sky Sports Top Speed Sector Times United States Of America Dry Race Frontrunning Team Agence France Presse Oceania Saudi Arabia China Andrea Stella America Normalised Length Alternative Set-Up Alan Permane Average Qualifying Deficits Speed Trap Front-Row Start Charles Leclerc Tyre Life Final Lap Australia And New Zealand Doors Moment United Kingdom Sergio Perez Spain Miami Strategy Decision Circuit Length Asia Title Lead Damage Limitation Race Australia Targeting Victory
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