Max in exciting Belgian qualifying P7: 'Ran out of fuel'

Published on 25 August 2018 by Mike Motilall

Max Verstappen finished seventh at the qualifying for the Belgian Grand Prix. In an exciting final part of qualifying, a sudden shower triggered some unexpected action on track. On the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps track, that was getting drier and drier, Lewis Hamilton came out on top by continuing driving on and was able to grab pole position. Sebastian Vettel finished in second. Force India surprised everyone as Esteban Ocon (P3) and Sergio Pérez (P4) took the second row.

Max explains what happened after qualifying. Should the Dutchman have kept going on? “I ran out of fuel, that’s why I was forced to get back to the pits”, Max explains. “It’s a shame, because we timed swapping the intermediates perfectly. We thought that we had the right strategy. Unfortunately it stopped raining towards the end of the session and the track got dry.”

What are the expectations for tomorrow? “Seventh is of course not what you want, but we’ll try and make the best of it. There are still two Force India’s and a Haas ahead of us, so we first need to overtake them. Normally that shouldn’t be a problem, albeit said that it is difficult to follow someone around on this track. We are going to do our best and see what happens.”

When the lights turn green at 15.00 hours local time at the end of the pit lane, the first part of qualifying gets underway. Pierre Gasly is together with the Haas’ drivers the first ones to head out on the tarmac. Romain Grosjean is the first one to get a time one the clock.

Not much later, Max Verstappen is also out on track. The Dutchman is third after his first quick lap with a 1:43.199. Both Ferrari’s are at that moment first and second. Lewis Hamilton splits them not much later. This puts Max in fourth. The Force India drivers trail Verstappen with a big gap in P5 and P6.

In the dying seconds of the first part of qualifying, Carlos Sainz, Fernando Alonso, Sergey Sirotkin, Lance Stroll and Stoffel Vandoorne fail to move on to the other part of qualifying. Max Verstappen progresses in fifth to Q2.

At the start of the second part of qualifying, the dark clouds that have been hanging around the circuit, start getting closer. Max Verstappen is fourth after his first run with a 1:42.554, behind Kimi Raikkonen (1:41.627), Lewis Hamilton (1:41.811) and Sebastian Vettel (1:42.133). Team mate Daniel Ricciardo slots in in P5, but the gap to Ferrari and Mercedes is considerable.

Verstappen and Ricciardo only run once during Q2. Both are despite their single run safe for the third and final part of qualifying. They are accompanied by the drivers from: Ferrari, Mercedes, Force India and Haas. Those that did not make it are Pierre Gasly, Brendon Hartley, Charles Leclerc, Marcus Ericsson and Nico Hulkenberg.

As Q3 gets underway it slowly starts to rain. The drivers head out on their slick tyres, but as time passes the rain intensifies. The conditions prove to be tricky, as Valtteri Bottas spins when exiting Blanchimont. The Finn is able to continue on, but heads, just like the rest, immediately back to the pits. Aston Martin Red Bull Racing is the first one out on the intermediates.

Daniel Ricciardo is the first to get a time on the clock, albeit that his run wasn’t flawless. Max Verstappen and Kimi Raikkonen better the Ozzie’s time not much later. The Dutchman does a better job once again and is P3 for the major part of the session with a 2:02.769. Towards the end of the session, the amount of rain decreases and the track starts getting drier and drier. The only driver that maximizes this in the best possible way is Lewis Hamilton. He keeps on driving and in doing so takes pole. Sebastian Vettel falls short by seven tenths of a second and comes home in P2.

The big surprise this afternoon are the Force India drivers who have laid claim to the second row (Ocon P3 and Pérez P4). Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo were forced to prematurely get back to the pits as they ran out of fuel and are only seventh and eighth fastest.

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Results qualifying Belgium: