World championship leader Max Verstappen was quickest in qualifying but has incurred a grid penalty for taking new engine parts; Carlos Sainz, who was second, is promoted to pole; watch the Belgian GP live on Sky Sports F1 at 2pm on Sunday, with build-up from 12:30pm
Sunday 28 August 2022 11:41, UK
Carlos Sainz will start on pole at the Belgian Grand Prix after penalties for several drivers set up an enthralling grid for Sunday's race at Spa.
Sainz finished second in qualifying behind Max Verstappen, but with the world championship leader relegated to 14th after taking new engine parts, the Ferrari driver takes the second pole of his career.
He will be joined on the front row by Verstappen's Red Bull team-mate Sergio Perez, who finished two tenths back from the Spaniard in third.
Charles Leclerc qualified fourth, but will start behind Verstappen in 15th, with five more drivers who have also taken penalties starting behind the championship-contending duo.
Fernando Alonso outpaced both Mercedes cars to earn a place on the second row alongside Lewis Hamilton, while George Russell is joined on the third row by Alex Albon, who delivered an impressive display for Williams to reach Q3.
Alpine's Esteban Ocon (fifth) and McLaren's Lando Norris (10th) also made it through to the final part of qualifying, but will start 16th and 17th respectively as they have also incurred penalties.
The other drivers relegated to the back were Haas' Mick Schumacher and Alfa Romeo's Zhou Guanyu, with the latter's team-mate Valtteri Bottas starting 13th after receiving a less severe penalty.
Yuki Tsunoda will start from the pit lane after AlphaTauri changed his engine without the approval of the FIA technical delegate after qualifying was completed.
Belgian GP starting grid
1) Carlos Sainz (Ferrari)
2) Sergio Perez (Red Bull)
3) Fernando Alonso (Alpine)
4) Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes)
5) George Russell (Mercedes
6) Alex Albon (Williams)
7) Daniel Ricciardo (McLaren)
8) Pierre Gasly (Alpha Tauri)
9) Lance Stroll (Aston Martin)
10) Sebastian Vettel (Aston Martin)
11) Nicholas Latifi (Williams)
12) Kevin Magnussen (Haas)
13) Valtteri Bottas (Alfa Romeo)
14) Max Verstappen (Red Bull)
15) Charles Leclerc (Ferrari)
16) Esteban Ocon (Alpine)
17) Lando Norris (McLaren)
18) Zhou Guanyu (Alfa Romeo)
19) Mick Schumacher (Haas)
Pit Lane: Yuki Tsunoda (Alpha Tauri)
Despite Sainz taking pole for Ferrari, qualifying in Spa represented a continuation of the dominance that Verstappen had displayed before the sport's summer break.
The Dutchman, who holds an 80-point lead over Leclerc as he seeks to retain the world championship, was in a league of his own as he outpaced Sainz by more than 0.6s, despite opting not to go out for a final run.
There will be disappointment for Perez, who finished the best part of 0.2s behind Sainz despite Red Bull clearly holding a major performance advantage over Ferrari in the cool and damp conditions seen on Friday and Saturday.
"I'm happy to be starting on pole, obviously not so happy to see the gap to Max this weekend and the gap Red Bull have on us," Sainz said.
"We need to keep digging to see why Red Bull are so fast around this track...but to start from pole is good and we will try to win tomorrow.
"I think our race pace is better than our qualifying pace, but there is still something to find."
Verstappen came from 10th on the grid to win in the final race before the summer break in Hungary, and his pace would suggest he has a chance of bettering that feat on Sunday.
"It was an amazing qualifying, but the whole weekend we have been really on it," Verstappen said.
"With a car like this it would be a shame to not be on the podium."
Despite Ferrari claiming pole, the mistakes that have plagued their campaign were evident once more on Saturday.
Leclerc narrowly escaped major damage as he spun into the barriers in the closing stages of final practice, and during qualifying, the Monegasque was sent out on track on the wrong set of tyres, before he received an apology over team radio for the "mistake".
While Leclerc will expect to score points on Sunday, he would appear unlikely to be able to scythe through the field in the way that many foresee Verstappen doing so.
Despite another frustrating Friday, Mercedes had come into Saturday with hopes of finding the pace to compete for pole, given the penalties Verstappen and Leclerc were facing.
However, the Silver Arrows were unable to find any major improvement in both final practice and qualifying, and had to scrap their way through to Q3, where they finished seventh and eighth after being outpaced by both Alpines.
While the W13 has generally performed more competitively on race day than in qualifying this season, Hamilton struggled to hide his shock over team radio at ending up 1.8s behind Verstappen.
"Everyone is working for improvements," the seven-time world champion said afterwards. "We came here very optimistic we could be close, but to be 1.8 seconds behind is a real kick in the teeth.
"It's a car we continue to struggle with and definitely won't miss it at the end of the year. For me, it's just focusing on how we build and design next year's car.
"The teams ahead of us are in another league and our car looked so much different today. We've got a lot of work to do, and we'll do the best we can with what we have for the rest of the season."
