Verstappen and Leclerc start from the back of the grid in Belgian GP

 

 

Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc, who are competing for the title, will start the Belgian Grand Prix at the back of the grid.

 

Six drivers will receive fines for using too many engine parts, including Lando Norris of McLaren and the Red Bull and Ferrari stars.

Verstappen set the pace in Friday practice, shocking everyone by going 0.862 seconds faster than Leclerc, who he leads by 80 points in the championship.

Lewis Hamilton, the driver of a Mercedes, came in sixth, behind Norris.

 

Normaly outside the top 10, Lance Stroll’s Aston Martin finished unexpectedly fourth ahead of Carlos Sainz’s Ferrari. The top 10 was completed by the Alpine of Fernando Alonso, the Mercedes of George Russell, the McLaren of Daniel Ricciardo, and the Red Bull of Sergio Perez.

 

Esteban Ocon of Alpine, Mick Schumacher of Haas, and Valtteri Bottas of Alfa Romeo are the three drivers who have engine penalties.

 

Verstappen’s pace looked hugely impressive and Leclerc certainly seemed to think it was an imposing time. When informed of it by his engineer, Leclerc said: “Oh. 45.5 is quick.”

After the session, Verstappen said: “We just looked at how we could set up the car in the best possible way and as soon as we went out the car was working pretty well.

“There are always little things you have to fine-tune with balance but basically from the first run I was happy with the car. So far it has been a good start.”