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Formula 1
Commentary

F1 Belgian GP Live commentary and updates - FP3 & Qualifying

Live updates from Saturday practice and qualifying for the Belgian GP at Spa-Francorchamps.

By: James Newbold, Jake Boxall-Legge

Summary

  • Verstappen secures pole for Belgian GP by beating stunning lap by Russell who takes second place
  • Hamilton qualifies in third with Ricciardo in fourth and Vettel in fifth
  • Q3 red flagged for Norris crash at Eau Rouge in heavy rain
  • Leclerc, Latifi, Sainz, Alonso and Stroll out in Q2
  • Giovinazzi, Tsunoda, Schumacher, Raikkonen and Mazepin out in Q1
  • Q2 incident between Sainz and Ocon to be investigated

Leaderboard

  1. Verstappen, Red Bull
  2. Russell, Williams
  3. Hamilton, Mercedes
  4. Ricciardo, McLaren
  5. Vettel, Aston Martin
  6. Gasly, AlphaTauri
  7. Perez, Red Bull
  8. Bottas, Mercedes
  9. Ocon, Alpine
  10. Norris, McLaren
Status: Stopped
And that's all from us! Keep checking out Autosport and Motorsport.com for all the news as it unravels, and we'll see you tomorrow for the race!
Here's the report from a wet and wild Belgian GP qualifying session: https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/belgian-gp-qualifying-report/6655588/
Seems like it's raining even harder at this point - it'll be a struggle to get the junior series out on track.
Russell: "I thought we did a good job to get out of Q1, and now we're here on the front row. Car was great, I had so much confidence. Now, on to tomorrow."
Russell getting plenty of congratulations from the other drivers, great performance in the Williams.
Top 10 in qualifying: Verstappen, Russell, Hamilton, Ricciardo, Vettel, Gasly, Perez, Bottas, Ocon, Norris.
Ricciardo moves up to fourth, ahead of Vettel, and that's it!
Verstappen snatches pole away from Russell! It's a 1m59.765s for the Red Bull!
Hamilton can't beat Russell's time! Hamilton is P2 at the moment!
And Russell goes P1 with a 2m00.086!
Russell's on an absolute flyer at the moment...
Perez went up to second there, 0.4s faster than Verstappen.
Gasly and Perez now occupy fifth and sixth, the French driver half a second off Vettel's fastest in this final part of qualifying.
Bottas and Vettel set times in the 2m03s, as Verstappen can't capitalise on his fastest first sector and goes second.
It's a 2m01.552s for Hamilton this time, setting the benchmark so far.
It's a 52m53.387s for Hamilton at this stage, you wouldn't even go that slow on the old circuit...
Ocon came back in, and switched wets for inters. Russell is now doing the same.
Inters for the Mercedes duo, the Red Bulls and Vettel.
And we're back - Ocon's out first on the full wet.
The track seems to be dry enough at the majority of places, although there's a few puddles hanging about in Sector 2.
We'll get back underway in three minutes' time.
We've had a few world feed shots of some karting going on at the circuit at the bottom of the main course, with one competitor finding the gravel. The conditions are even difficult at low speeds.
The safety car is back in the pits, difficult to see if it's still raining out there.
Spa will undergo changes to try and stop cars bouncing back into the circuit. Here's some more on the planned modifications.
It looks like we'll be waiting for a bit longer, as the rain has intensified at Spa.
Marshals are still clearing up at Raidillon, with some oil to clear up as a result of Norris' crash.
"What the **** did I say? It's unnecessary - is he okay?" said Vettel after Norris' crash, having called for a red flag earlier.
Norris had reported aquaplaning on his out-lap, and caught a moment at Eau Rouge. He's out of the car, which is always good to see.
Norris is okay, thankfully. Vettel pulls over to check on him.
Red flag. That's a big accident for Norris.
"I think they should red flag - there's too much water" says Vettel.
The circuit's wetter now too - Russell and Gasly are the only cars to brave the intermediate tyre.
The final part of qualifying now begins! Who on earth is going to get pole today?
Drivers in Q3: Norris, Hamilton, Bottas, Gasly, Verstappen, Vettel, Perez, Russell, Ricciardo, Ocon.
An incident between Sainz and Ocon will be looked at after the session.
Eliminated: Leclerc, Latifi, Sainz, Alonso, Stroll
Ocon and Ricciardo get through, dumping both Ferraris out!
Russell now gets up to P7, as Hamilton and Bottas get to second and third!
Norris sets a 1m56.025s to go top!
Perez goes to third, as Latifi moves up to P7!
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