Leclerc takes pole full of authority at Spa

He will not have trembled. After flying through the third free practice session, Charles Leclerc drives the point home and wins the 3rd pole of his young career, after those obtained in Bahrain and Austria earlier this season. And how !

The Monegasque confirms the very good form of Ferrari on the Ardennes slide with a time of 1'42''519 and ahead of his teammate Sebastian Vettel of 0''748, a hole. The German still allows the Maranello team to lock the first row.

The second will be all gray with the Mercedes de Lewis Hamilton et Valtteri Bottas. The world championship leader is relegated to 0''763 behind Leclerc, while the Finn, renewed for 2020 at Mercedes earlier this week, is almost nine tenths behind. 

Max Verstappen occupies a sort of no man's land in 5th position, more than a second from pole. The Dutchman of Red Bull Racing precedes the Renault de Daniel Ricciardo et Nico Hulkenberg, which have found very beautiful colors in the Belgian forest. Kimi Räikkönen (Alfa Romeo), Sergio Pérez (Racing Point), and Kevin Magnussen (Haas) complete a Top 10 where the drivers fought like ragtags on the track during the launch laps, between tire management and the search for the best aspiration.

For the first time since the Spanish Grand Prix, none of the McLaren is not present in Q3. Lando Norris is the best classified of the Woking drivers with the 12th fastest time, just behind the Haas of Romain Grosjean, While Lance stroll signs the 13th time for Racing Point. For his inaugural qualifying session with Red Bull, Alexander albon stops in Q2 after a single timed attempt. The Thai, who uses the new Spec 4 with Honda engine, has known since the start of the weekend that he will have to start from the back of the grid. 

While he had climbed solidly into Q2, Antonio Giovinazzi was unable to take part following an engine problem which occurred at the very end of Q1 and which almost caused Verstappen to fall prematurely. Victim of problems with its Honda power unit, the Dutchman, who has the Japanese Spec 3 on board, can only set a flying lap at the very end of the session. He managed to complete his effort just before the red flag which shortened the session following the technical damage suffered by Giovinazzi.

Complicated qualifications for Toro Rosso whose two representatives left the stage prematurely with the 15th time for the ghost Pierre Gasly, two places and a tenth ahead of his new teammate Daniil Kvyat. Between the two STR14s slips the McLaren of Carlos Sainz, deprived of a final fast lap at the end of Q1, and eliminated at this stage for the first time since Melbourne.

Giovinazzi is not the only one to be betrayed by his mechanics since Robert Kubica must quickly park his Williams in a huge plume of smoke. The Pole suffered a breakdown in his Mercedes internal combustion engine, which will be sent back to Brixworth for analysis. 

Kubica therefore brings up the rear, behind his teammate George Russell, who is a full second behind the 18th time. The Sunday starting grid will undoubtedly have a different appearance than the qualifying classification since many drivers are already under penalty. Not to mention those that are sure to fall by tomorrow afternoon.

Charles Leclerc's two previous poles ended in the pain of a victory lost in the final laps of the race. Will the 3rd time be the charm? Response Sunday from 15:10 p.m.

CLASSIFICATION: END OF QUALIFYING

Confirmation of a third career pole position for Charles Leclerc!#F1 #BelgianGP pic.twitter.com/D7AZ0ozypv

— Formula 1 (@F1) August 31