Russell's performance could very well have attracted the attention of Toto Wolff who has had his eye on him for a spot in Mercedes.
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Red Bull driver Max Verstappen delivered an absolutely flying lap on Saturday to take pole position for the Belgian Grand Prix. Spa served up yet another one of its surprises as the rain lashed down on the drivers. The shocker of the day was not Verstappen getting pole, but it was Williams driver George Russell managing to earn second place on the grid after what was an outstanding lap by the youngster. Russell was the only one, apart from Verstappen, who seemed to get a feel for the wet Spa-Francorchamps circuit. He out-qualified defending champion and Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton. His performance could very well have attracted the attention of Toto Wolff who has had his eye on Russell for that second spot in Mercedes for quite a while now.
Hamilton put in an incredible lap as well but lost just a bit of ground in the final sector to miss out on the front row of the grid by just 0.013 seconds. Verstappen, however, went purple in the second sector and then the final sequence of corners to grab pole for the sixth time this season to the delight of the loyal Dutch contingent that had packed the grandstands all day at Spa in wet and cold conditions.
Australian driver Daniel Ricciardo also had an incredible day at Spa as he secured his best ever qualifying performance with McLaren. Ricciardo will start from fourth place on the grid on Sunday, right alongside Hamilton. He will have his eyes set on a podium finish, something that has eluded him for an extremely long time now.
Starting from fifth position will be F1 legend and former world champion Sebastian Vettel. The Aston Martin driver used all of his experience to navigate through the wet Spa track and managed to earn a brilliant fifth position on the grid. Vettel was the one who actually finished in second place in the Hungarian GP but was disqualified after the race as his car did not have the minimum fuel requirements as laid down by the FIA. It must have been frustrating for Vettel at the time and he will be looking to prove a point in the Belgian GP.
While there was joy for one McLaren driver, there was agony for another. Lando Norris had been putting in exceptional laps but the track at Spa and the rain just got the better of him. He suffered an incredibly heavy crash at Raidillon in Q3. Thankfully, Norris has not been hurt but he will be fuming. The British driver had been the quickest in each of the first two segments of qualifying. He is likely to start from the pit lane on race day due to the extensive damage to his car.
AlphaTauri driver Pierre Gasly will be the one who will start from the sixth place while Ed Bull’s Sergio Perez, who was recently announced as part of the team for 2022, could only manage to qualify in seventh place. Mercedes driver Valterri Bottas finished eighth in qualifying but will start from P13 as he has a five-place grid penalty for causing the crash at the beginning of the Hungarian GP.
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