World championship leader Max Verstappen starts the Formula 1 sprint race in Spa-Francorchamps from position one.
In qualifying for the shortened race format, the Red Bull driver was just slightly faster than Australian Oscar Piastri in the McLaren. Third was Carlos Sainz ahead of his Ferrari colleague Charles Leclerc.
Because of the rain, the hunt for the starting place had been postponed by 35 minutes, and the pilots’ full skill was then required on the track, which was still wet at first. Verstappen had already turned by far the fastest lap in qualifying for the main race on Friday. At the Grand Prix on Sunday (3 p.m. / Sky), the double world champion has to start five places further down due to an unauthorized gearbox change.
Accident by Lance Stroll
In the overall standings, Verstappen is already 110 points ahead of teammate Sergio Pérez after seven wins in a row. In the sprint on Saturday (5:05 p.m. / Sky), eight additional world championship points will be awarded to the winner. The first eight get points.
For Nico Hülkenberg, the hunt for the best grid positions was quickly over, as it was on Friday. Again the Rhinelander could not set a time. A hydraulic defect in his Haas racing car stopped the 35-year-old from qualifying for the main race on Friday. This time, after a botched tire change, the team sent him back out too late, so he couldn’t do a quick lap and ended up last again. “Our mistake,” radioed his race engineer to Hulkenberg.
The second section had to be stopped shortly before the end after an accident involving Lance Stroll. The Canadian ventured onto the still wet track with dry tires and slid violently into the barriers. Stroll was apparently unharmed.
