Qualifying Highlights | 2024 Belgian Grand Prix

This is Max Verstappen and that incident of potential impeding investigated after. Well that's impeding for Joe who's currently down in 19th and he's on his final flying lap at the moment and not improving in the first part. So Joe's already in trouble and he's going to be in trouble with the stewards I think there. Gasly in the Alpine goes second, Ocon his teammate goes sixth. There is so much performance to be had there. Perez drops down to 14th, now 15th as Perez is very close to improving up against Piastri. Big leaps forward here as we go over the line up to eighth position goes Valtteri Bottas. He's a 10-time Grand Prix winner previously in his career. Can Perez now in the drop zone find an improvement when it matters? He goes round the final left-hander that is turn 19 of the racetrack. Needs an improvement because he's in the drop zone. Perez finds a lap time and gets up to P4. He really needed that one. Sainz in the bottom five right now but on an improvement. Sainz and Tsunoda both finding time from the drop zone which will leave Hulkenberg and Stroll in trouble. Norris improves, only goes 11th. Here's Carlos Sainz, he's safe. Hulkenberg is out, so is Kevin Magnussen. Yuki Tsunoda finds himself pushing all the way but it's not enough to get out of the first part of qualifying. He knew he was starting at the back anyway and there's no improvement for Sargent and Joe. Out goes Hulkenberg, Magnussen, Tsunoda, Sargent and Joe. Ocon and Gasly both needing a lap time to improve and across the line comes Esteban Ocon up to fourth position. That's a lap time when he was under big pressure to deliver it. Let's look at what his teammate can do. He goes up to seventh, both Mercedes in the drop zone. Provisionally because they're both improving as well. This is another part of qualifying where you've got to hook it up on the final tour. The checker flag is out. George Russell hits the brakes for the final corner at the bus stop, once again making it neatly to the apex. This has been a much better lap and look how quick Hamilton is as well. When it really matters, Russell over the line to second position. Hamilton will try and respond. Also an improvement for Fernando Alonso in the drop zone is Alex Albon but everyone in that drop zone is on for a personal best. It's going to be about the stopwatch over the line. Lando Norris has just gone past the start-finish position and he goes into fourth place. Hamilton currently in the drop zone, currently heading out. Has he delivered a lap around Spa where he's a four-time winner that's good enough? The answer is yes, he's up to second place. And now what can we see? Ricciardo is out in this part of qualifying. Who's going to join him? Alonso up to fifth. Sainz now in the drop zone. Charles Leclerc pushing on. Albon finds a time, good enough for ninth. The Ferraris need a reply. So Gasly is out, Ricciardo is out, Stroll's not doing enough either. Can Carlos Sainz leap up and can Charles Leclerc? Yes, he can. Charles Leclerc goes to fifth and now in the drop zone trying to get out of it. Carlos Sainz, who does it? And Pérez has made it through. Or has he? No, we look and Bottas can't punish the red ball. Sergio Pérez makes it through by three thousandths of a second. We have our top 10 shootout. Two red balls in it by three thousandths of a second. Fastest driver through the first part of this racetrack. Esteban Ocon in the Alpine. He's been as high as third on the grid here in his previous Formula One career. He's looking for his best start of the season. First of all though, Hamilton across the line. Time to beat a 1.54.0. George Russell will be the first to respond. Let's see what he can do. And he is behind his teammate by over two tenths of a second. Piastri into the bus stop. He's done the fastest middle sector so far. Norris has not been quite at it so far in the qualifying hour. Piastri comes through, goes second. Only a fraction away from Hamilton. Norris has been a bit slower through two sectors. We see Ocon complete a lap. Not bad for Esteban Ocon in the Alpine. And then there's Lando trying to scramble to get on the throttle. Up to fourth position. Verstappen is mighty in the middle sector. He's seven tenths quicker than anybody else there. In the battle between the two Ferraris. Sainz goes into fifth place. Charles Leclerc wants to try and out-qualify his teammate for the first time in three races. Can't do so on this first run. He is in sixth position and we go on board now with Sergio Perez who goes ahead of Hamilton to the front of the field. Great lap from Sergio Perez. He's delivered nicely there with the pressure on. What about the man who's going to take a tenth place drop though? What sort of lap is it? Look at that from Max Verstappen. The lead car out there by six tenths of a second. Leclerc's got a great target to aim at here. On a fresh intermediate towards the second half of the lap. Sainz is the the driver in main shock coming through the middle sector. He's not on a great lap. He's already down on more than Verstappen, than everyone ahead of him on the leaderboard. But Leclerc is going quicker and this is a really tidy lap from Charles Leclerc. Charles Leclerc, when it matters, is in touching distance of the front row. Can he get ahead of Perez and force Perez to respond if he wants that fourth career pole position? Because Verstappen might be fastest at the end of the qualifying hour but he will take a penalty. First Ferrari over the line is Carlos Sainz. Where can he go in the classification? He stays where he is. Charles Leclerc, much better, much cleaner around this racetrack at this time. Can he get ahead of Perez? Yes! And that would be provisional pole position. And Perez is not on a good lap. Perez is not going well on this final tour. Verstappen's got a chance to improve. It won't matter. I don't think anyone will beat him. But I don't think Perez can improve. At no stage of this weekend did Charles Leclerc look like being the driver who could pick up the pieces when Max Verstappen had a 10 place penalty and yet the one-lap master has found a way to the front of the field. Verstappen is going to underline his superiority. He'll finish top at the end of the qualifying hour with the fastest final sector of anyone. He just misses out but the fastest time at the end of the hour is a 1.53.159. It looked like Sergio Perez was going to be able to find a reply but he wasn't able to do so. And Charles Leclerc's last gasp lap takes him to an inherited pole position. Charles Leclerc once again on Formula One pole for that 25th time in his career. Max Verstappen has shown everyone the way around this racetrack in the qualifying hour on pole by very nearly six tenths of a second. Charles Leclerc though will inherit that pole position after a 10 place drop for Max Verstappen. Leclerc will share the front row with Sergio Perez.