Although Max Verstappen was able to qualify first, a 10-place grid penalty will bump Charles Leclerc to the Formula 1 pole at Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps.
Verstappen took a new engine above the team’s allotment for the season, knocking the points leader down to a best possible starting position of 11th. Leclerc qualified second on a very wet track and thus took over the pole, with Sergio Perez beside him on the front row.
“It’s good,” Leclerc said in the podium interviews. “I was not expecting that this weekend. With the tricky conditions, we did something above our expectations. It’s a good day for the team, now we need to focus on on tomorrow and see what will happen whenever the rain is gone.”
“The race can be lost in turn 1,” Verstappen said. “We’ll see what happens on the start. Let’s go from there, it’s a very long race, hard on the tires. Just need to manage that as good as we can. Hopefully we can be competitive tomorrow.”
Q3
There were no wrecks or incidents in all of qualifying this week.
| Pos. | Driver No. | Driver | Team | Time from Leader |
| 1. | 1 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull Racing Honda RBPT | 1:53:159m |
| 2. | 16 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | +0.595s |
| 3. | 11 | Sergio Perez | Red Bull Racing Honda RBPT | +0.606s |
| 4. | 44 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | +0.676s |
| 5. | 4 | Lando Norris | McLaren Mercedes | +0.822s |
| 6. | 81 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren Mercedes | +0.868s |
| 7. | 63 | George Russell | Mercedes | +1.025s |
| 8. | 55 | Carlos Sainz | Ferrari | +1.318s |
| 9. | 14 | Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin Aramco Mercedes | +1.606s |
| 10. | 31 | Esteban Ocon | Alpine Renault | +1.651s |
Q2
This was a wet session, with drivers using only intermediate tires as the rain came in and out on the large Spa circuit.
| Pos. | Driver No. | Driver | Team | Time from Advancing |
| 11. | 23 | Alexander Albon | Williams Mercedes | +0.003s |
| 12. | 10 | Pierre Gasly | Alpine Renault | +0.165s |
| 13. | 3 | Daniel Ricciardo | RB Honda RBPT | +0.212s |
| 14. | 77 | Valtteri Bottas | KICK Sauber Ferrari | +0.294s |
| 15. | 18 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin Aramco Mercedes | +1.246s |
Q1
This was also very wet round, with most drivers staying out the entire round on intermediate tires trying to make laps when it was driest.
Although Yuki Tsunoda qualified 18th, he will start last after taking a number of penalties due to going over his allowable number of engine parts for the season.
| Pos. | Driver No. | Driver | Team | Time from Advancing |
| 16. | 27 | Nico Hulkenberg | Haas Ferrari | +0.236s |
| 17. | 20 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas Ferrari | +0.428s |
| 18. | 22 | Yuki Tsunoda | RB Honda RBPT | +0.521s |
| 19. | 2 | Logan Sargeant | Williams Mercedes | +1.158s |
| 20. | 24 | Zhou Guanyu | KICK Sauber Ferrari | +1.703s |
One of the great races on the F1 calendar is now the final stop before the summer break. Coverage of the Belgian Grand Prix will be on ESPN, with lights out on Sunday, July 28 at 9 a.m. ET.
Michael has watched NASCAR for 20 years and regularly covered the sport from 2013-2021, and also formerly covered the SRX series from 2021-2023. He now covers the FIA Formula 1 World Championship, the NASCAR Xfinity Series, and road course events in the NASCAR Cup Series.