SPA-FRANCORCHAMPS: Carlos Sainz topped the times for Ferrari but Formula One was left facing a problematic challenge on Friday as heavy rain curtailed the only free practice session for the Belgian Grand Prix. The Spanish driver clocked a best lap time of two minutes and 3.207 seconds to finish ahead of the McLarens of Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris with Charles Leclerc fourth for Ferrari. Sergio Perez was fifth for Red Bull, but Max Verstappen did not clock a time and little of the action was representative in conditions that many observers believe render the circuit as too dangerous for racing
. In such treacherous conditions, the International Motoring Federation (FIA) may face calls for qualifying on Friday afternoon to be cancelled. The Grand Prix, being run at Spa in July for the first time, follows much debate about safety and comes only weeks after the death of 18-year-old Dutch racer Dilano van’t Hoff, a crash in wet conditions that was a reminder of the fatal accident in 2019 that claimed the life of French F2 driver Anthoine Hubert. The session began in steady rain with Alex Albon, on intermediates, leading the way in his Williams before Mercedes sent Lewis Hamilton out on full wets as the rain intensified.
Red Bull had been reluctant to join the fray, in difficult conditions, having confirmed shortly beforehand that Verstappen was taking a new gearbox, his fifth of the year, and was therefore poised for a five-place grid penalty. The maximum is four new boxes per year and Spa was a logical choice for the change and penalty because it is a long circuit offering many overtaking opportunities. Last year, he started 14th, but stormed to victory. The session represented Ferrari’s first since they announced that Diego Loverno had replaced Laurent Mekies as sporting director. Red-flagged It was a tricky baptism, a ‘sprint race’ weekend with limited practice in treacherous conditions that reduced the session to a mix of survival and hope as a sequence of drivers experienced unscheduled excursions.
Yuki Tsunoda, Albon, Perez, soon after joining the action, and Gasly all had minor incidents before Zhou Guanyu and then Logan Sargeant went off at the end of the Kemmel Straight after half an hour. The session was red-flagged as Sargeant reported: "I couldn’t turn. Something was broken.” The delay lasted nine minutes before the circuit was green-flagged – the worst preparation for the teams ahead of qualifying, scheduled to take place later on Friday afternoon. Anticipating a debate on how to form the grid, if qualifying was to be cancelled due to the weather, the FIA issued a statement mid-session. "We can confirm that the teams have been informed that Free Practice will not be used to set the grid for either the sprint or the grand prix this weekend,” it said.
"This has been done to ensure that teams do not treat the first session of the weekend as a competitive session. Max Verstappen declared he can carry on winning in Sunday’s Belgian Grand Prix, playing down his five-place grid penalty after topping qualifying on Friday. The defending double world champion and runaway leader of the title race reeled off a phenomenal late lap to beat Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc by eight-tenths of a second and will be seeking his eighth consecutive victory. "Last year, I had more penalties,” he said, referring to his triumph from 14th on the grid.
"So, we can still win this race on Sunday, but let’s first wait till tomorrow (Saturday) - and see what the weather will do and what kind of racing we are going to have. "It’s great for me here to see so many fans. I grew up close to here and I have raced here a lot, so it is like a second home race for me.” The 25-year-old Dutchman will be hoping to complete a hat-trick of Belgian wins and to increase his 110-point lead ahead of Red Bull team-mate Sergio Perez in the championship, but it will be Leclerc who starts the race from pole position, his second this season. "Not bad for us,” said Leclerc after the wet-dry session, which saw times tumbling in the third qualifying session on slick tyres after Q1 had been run on intermediates. "Especially in those conditions – it’s always tricky to put everything together.
I put in a lot of work for those conditions as I wasn’t comfortable a few races ago and it seems to have paid off. "We went a bit too early for our last run, but we could have been closer. Having said that, we have a great starting position so let’s see how it goes.” Verstappen added that he made the most of having two sets of tyres for Q3 which had allowed him to push harder. "You can risk a little bit more and that’s what we did on the final lap. "But it was very tight. The conditions are tricky, the track was drying and in Q2 I was lucky make it in P10. In the end, it was the best I could do today.”
Verstappen’s Red Bull team-mate Perez qualified third and will start second after another improved qualifying session, following five races before Hungary without reaching Q3. "It was a shame that I didn’t get Charles, but I think in these conditions It was good that we had a good session. It was very trick initially. We thought it would get a lot drier a lot quicker. It was still tricky in Q3.” Seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton was fourth for Mercedes and described the day as "hectic” and unpredictable. - AFP