Leclerc starts on pole for Belgian Grand Prix

Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc will start Sunday’s Belgian Grand Prix on pole position with Red Bull’s Sergio Perez next to him on the front row.

World champion Max Verstappen was 0.595 seconds quicker than Leclerc in a wet qualifying session on Saturday but the Red Bull driver starts in 11th place because of a 10-place grid penalty for taking a new engine.

“I definitely did not expect that this weekend but with the tricky conditions we could do something above our expectations,” said Leclerc.

“It is a good day for the team and now we need to focus on tomorrow and see what will happen when the rain is gone.”

Verstappen’s teammate Perez, who was just 0.011sec behind Leclerc, will join the Monegasque on the front row.

Seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton starts from third in his Mercedes, followed by the McLarens of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, who locked out an impressive 1-2 in the last race in Hungary.

Mercedes’ George Russell was seventh fastest ahead of Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz, Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso and the Alpine of Esteban Ocon.