Leclerc on pole in Belgium despite Verstappen domination

Qualifying had to be delayed by 10 minutes on account of heavy rain, but the weather subsided in time for cars to hit the track, and the circuit was dry enough for slick tyres by the time the pole-setting session started.

Verstappen was peerless in the slippery condition. His Red Bull Racing car was perfectly suited to the aerodynamic demands of the Spa-Francorchamps circuit, and he wielded it to put an impressive 0.82 seconds on the entire field with his final lap to dominate the battle for top spot.

“I Q3 you can risk a little bit more, and that’s what we did on the final lap,” he said. “It was the best I could do today.

“It was all about just feeling confident and risking everything in that final run to get more lap time.”

But the position was far more important with than the time, minimising the pain of his five-place grid penalty earnt for using a fifth set of gearbox components, one more than allowed for the season.

Recounting last year’s race, which he won at a canter from a penalised 14th, Verstappen said he was still aiming for the top step.

“We know that he car is quick and even in these tricky conditions today luckily we could show that again,”he said.

Last year I had more penalties and we could still win the race. That’s still the target on Sunday. Let’s see.”

Leclerc was best of the rest, inheriting his second grand prix pole position of the season after his P1 start in Azerbaijan earlier this year.

“Not a bad qualifying for us, especially in those conditions,” he said. “It’s always tricky to put everything together.

I’ve put a lot of work into those conditions because I wasn’t so comfortable few races ago, and it’s paid off.”

But dreams of breaking Red Bull Racing’s victory streak must be tempered not only by Verstappen’s ferocious pace but also by Sergio Perez starting alongside the Monegasque on the front row.

The Mexican was more than a second slower than Verstappen, it could end up being enough to earn him a chance to nab a much-needed third podium in seven grands prix.

“Very tricky qualifying out there,” he said. “But it’s a good result.

“It’s a bit of a shame I didn’t get Charles there, but I think in these conditions he was good.”

Verstappen’s penalty promotes Lewis Hamilton and Carlos Sainz to the second row, the Mercedes and Ferrari closely matched in the tricky conditions.

Oscar Piastri will start fifth, up from sixth, after a superb session from the Australian rookie, who was one of the few drivers able to match Verstappen in the twisty middle sector.

Verstappen will slot into sixth ahead of Lando Norris, who badly damaged his floor in a plough through the grave in Q1, leaving him adrift of teammate Piastri throughout the hour.

George Russell was a distant eight after gambling on loading up on more downforce than teammate Hamilton, leaving him off the pace around the lap.

Aston Martin completed the top 10, with Fernando Alonso leading Lance Stroll by more than a second.

Yuki Tsunoda was strong for AlphaTauri to qualify 11^th ahead of Pierre Gasly and Kevin Magnussen.

Valtteri Bottas’s early switch from intermediates to slicks as the track dried in Q2 didn’t pay long-term dividends, leaving him 14^th ahead of Esteban Ocon, who crashed his Alpine at turn 9 and ruined his qualifying.

Thai driver Alex Albon will line up 16^th ahead of Zhou Guanyu and Logan Sargeant, who had a precautionary gearbox change ahead of the session after crashing out of the treacherously wet first practice session earlier in the day.

The second qualifying session of Daniel Ricciardo’s comeback yielded only 19^th after he had his fastest lap deleted for drifting off track at the top of Eau Rouge-Radillion, costing him a time that would have been quick enough to see him comfortably through to Q2.

Nico Hülkenberg wills tart last thanks to a hydraulics issue with his Haas car.