Ferrari Team Principal Frederic Vasseur insists Max Verstappen's stunning qualifying must be ignored when judging the Scuderia's improvement after Charles Leclerc secured pole for the Belgian Grand Prix. The Monégasque finished second and over eight-tenths down on the runaway championship leader, who set a blistering benchmark in his Red Bull. But a gearbox change for the weekend will see Verstappen drop to sixth on the grid provisionally, giving Leclerc pole position for the second time this season. Qualifying began in wet conditions but transitioned to slicks by Q3, leading to a dramatic session. "It was a bit chaotic because with the three sessions, it was only a one-lap session and we had to put everything together, it was a bit at risk," Vasseur told Sky Sports F1. "Overall, it was a good session for us. We will start P1 and P4 on Sunday - there is the penalty for Max. "It was a great session if you don't consider Max because he was flying. Let's take it as a good step forward."
Better to start at the front
With the weekend hosting the Sprint format, only one practice session was scheduled, with limited running due to extreme wet conditions. "We didn't have time to set up some things because FP1 was full wet and then we went to quali with Inters and slicks," explained Vasseur. "So it was chaotic, nobody knows exactly where we are, but it is better to start from the front than from the back. "I am happy with the result. There is a huge difference in the top speeds which means the teams took different options for Saturday and Sunday - we will see the weather over the weekend now."
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