Max Verstappen finished fastest in qualifying for the Belgian Grand Prix, but will start Sunday’s race in 11th due to a grid penalty with Charles Leclerc on pole.
The Dutchman has exceeded his allocated number of engines for the season after taking his fifth ICE unit ahead of the race in Spa.
That automatically handed Verstappen a 10-place grid penalty for the Belgian Grand Prix and opening the door for someone else to sit on pole.
Red Bull were showing good pace throughout practice with Sergio Perez putting in his strongest weekend for a long time.
Max Verstappen has been handed a grid penalty
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Nobody was able to challenge Verstappen’s time, but it never mattered anyway with the three-time world champion dropping down to 11th for Sunday’s race.
It was a battle for second with Perez the best-of-the-rest after the initial set of runs in Q3.
Lewis Hamilton and the two McLaren drivers were close to the Red Bull driver, but they were unable to improve their times to challenge Perez.
However, Leclerc put in a stellar lap to put his Ferrari ahead of Perez and steal pole away from his rival.
More to follow…