Welcome at RacingNews365

Become part of the largest racing community in the United Kingdom. Create your free account now!

  • Share your thoughts and opinions about F1
  • Win fantastic prizes
  • Get access to our premium content
  • Take advantage of more exclusive benefits
Sign in

Leclerc's Verstappen concession after inheriting Belgian GP pole

The Ferrari driver will be credited with pole position at Spa despite Max Verstappen winning the session.

Charles Leclerc has conceded that Max Verstappen was unbeatable in Belgian Grand Prix qualifying as he inherited pole position. Verstappen clocked the fastest time at Spa-Francorchamps in wet-dry conditions and was 0.820secs clear of Leclerc's Ferrari in Q3 but will be demoted to sixth provisionally once a gearbox penalty is applied. It means Leclerc inherits pole position - the 20th of his F1 career - but couldn't hide the fact that the Red Bull was simply too fast on the day for him to earn pole outright.

Leclerc's Verstappen admission

"It was not a bad Qualifying for us, and especially in these conditions, it is always tricky to put everything together," Leclerc explained after his second pole of the season. "I put in a lot of work in these conditions as I wasn't really comfortable a few races ago and it really seems to have paid off. "We went a bit too early for that last run, but pole was definitely not for us today, as Max was too quick. "We could have been a bit closer, but having said that, we have a great starting position for Sunday, so let's see how it goes. "It was really tricky, and Kevin [Magnussen] went into the wall on front of me, so I didn't put a lap in early and then you've got all the pressure on that last lap that you need to do in those conditions. "It wasn't easy but at the end, everything went well. "Having said that, there's still quite a bit of work to do in order to catch the Red Bulls."

x