#F1 Qualifying Review: 2022 FORMULA 1 ROLEX BELGIAN GRAND PRIX

Last Updated on August 27 2022, 6:41 pm

Brought to you by TheJudge13 contributor CFD1801J

Ambient 15.1° Track 20.5° Humidity 85.2% Wind 0.8 m/s

Prelude

Grey, chilly skies loomed over the lengthy circuit at Spa, with the ever present chance of rain hanging about like a bad cold. Three practices into the second half of the season and it looked like the teams that had chosen to run more raceable cars (lower DF, higher top speeds) were looking quite good for quali with the usual caveat of whether or not they could keep the tyres alive long enough to make their strategy work. Plenty of driver chat as well given the small thermonuclear explosion in the driver market kicked off by Alonso and McLaren. But the biggest fun was turning out to be the enormous amount of complicated penalties taken by the following drivers, in no particular order: Verstappen, Leclerc, Norris, Ocon, Zhou and Schumacher all getting kicked to the back of the grid, with Bottas sitting on a 20 place two part penalty that will effectively put him at the back, but ahead of all the others at the back back. Unless the stewards choose, at they did with Leclerc who tried to play a similarly tricksy game with Ferrari taking penalties strategically to get him ahead of the others who didn’t bother, to put the kibosh on that plan.

The start of qualifying itself was delayed by an incredibly ridiculous crash in Porsche Supercars (I know, I know) taking out a big chunk of armco that required repair. Red Bull seemed to have the pace to put Perez on pole and once again in the cold temps Mercedes seemed to be struggling with tyre warmup, making one wonder if in fact they were going to try the same trick they tried in Hungary. Albon had looked spicy as well and perhaps Williams had finally solved their issues with tyres in cooler temps, something that had cost them in the past.

Summary

Green Light!! Latifi was first out of the pits for a lonely outlap as not even his teammate joined him, though the fact he was on the Medium tyre suggested it was an installation lap and would not necessarily lead to a push lap. Schumacher was next to dip his toe into the pool, on the Soft tyre and properly getting things underway. As he approached the end of the Kemmel straight, out came Hamilton, Russell, Magnussen and Perez. Leclerc then led Norris, Sainz, Stroll, Bottas, Zhou and Verstappen out. Schumacher hit the line for a 1:47.929 which was not a particularly fast time, so perhaps fueled for more than one go. The last group out was Alonso, Ocon, Vettel, Latifi, Gasly and Ricciardo, with Albon and Tsunoda bringing up the rear.

Bang Bang Bang first Hamilton, then Russell, then Magnussen rocked the first sector purple, but farther back it was Verstappen who ultimately took top honours for the first bite at the apple. Both Russell and Magnussen outpointed Hamilton, who perhaps had some issues in the last sector looking at the times. Verstappen rocked to the top, with Sainz winning the battle with Perez early days, 0.3 seconds up on his rival. Leclerc settled behind Perez, and Ocon took P5 from Alonso by an eentsy bit. Which technically is defined as 0.036 seconds for those that didn’t know. Stroll, Latifi, Schumacher, Zhou, and Bottas were in the drop zone, but Mercedes had elected to stay out and run a second lap, which moved them up to P10 and P11.

Lurid shots of a Mercedes front wing flexing like mad as the car mounted some kerbs and with 5 minutes to go, the last of the runners disappeared into the pits for the usual efforts to make the hallowed grounds of Q2. This time it was Latifi leading the last chance lappers, then Stroll, Schumacher, Bottas, Zhou and Magnussen. The next group out was headed by Vettel, then Gasly Ricciardo, Tsunoda then Norris, Alonso and Ocon, interesting that Alpine were following closely their nearest rival.

Hamilton, Russell and Albon were the last out onto track and with that the die was cast. Stroll was featured as a first drive and it was not a great one, yellow through Sector 1. Stroll to P10 but it was Zhou with the big jump to P7 as Bottas bailed on his effort. Vettel made P15 but it was Tsunoda with the big mistake. Hamilton and Russell bounced ahead of the Alpines and then Norris just dinked Ocon for P8, but it was Albon, rocking up to P6 and splitting the Mercedes as the session came to an end.

Going no further then, were Vettel, Latifi, Magnussen, Tsunoda and Bottas. ooof and 0.002 seconds was all that had kept Vettel out of Q2. So off to find some Stroopwaffeln to salve their souls they went as the rest turned it round for the rigours of Q2. Alpine had sent their drivers out on a used set of Softs to save for Q3 so interesting indeed.

It was Hamilton, first out of the gate on a set of used Softs, well, that was certainly interesting. Russell was next out than it was Verstappen, Perez, Sainz, Schumacher and Norris. Russel as well on some used tyres, along with Gasly and Schumacher. Order wise, Alonso Gasly and Ocon were next out, then Stroll, Zhou and Albon.

Hamilton was quicker than Russell in Sector 1 before Verstappen took that toy away from the both of them. Sainz again nicked Perez at the start of the lap. At the end of the lap, however, it was Perez faster of the two, with Verstappen fastest of all. Ocon rocked up to P4 with Norris, Alonso and Russell behind. Gasly, Hamilton and Albon locked out the top ten, but it was only the Alpines with new tyres so it was all to play for as the cars rolled into the pits, save Leclerc who caught his teammate in the third sector for a nice tow, but then slid it through the Bus Stop and lost almost all the advantage he gained.

Albon, Zhou, Stroll, Schumacher, and Ricciardo (who hadn’t set a time) were on the outside looking in as the teams made their last, desperate preparations for the final tilt at Q3, whose glories beckoned….

And it was Ocon, leading Alonso out of the pits for the final go at Q2, followed by Zhou, Gasly, Schumacher and Stroll. Leclerc then led Norris and Ricciardo with Sainz, Hamilton, Russell and Albon finishing the train. Norris was on scrubbed tyres to tow Ricciardo was announced on team radio and a plan was on, with Ocon rocketing down the Kemmel straight and then diving out of the way as Alonso ripped past him. But fastest of all was Albon in the first sector as the times began to roll in. Hamilton and Russell dinged The Alpines, dropping them to P7 and P8, then Albon stuck a knife into Ricciardo’s back, taking P10 from Ricciardo, and guaranteeing that his would start the race no worse than P6 thanks to the penalties.

Going no further were Ricciardo, Gasly, Zhou, Stroll and Schumacher, off in search of some Afligem Tripel to soothe their bruised egos as the rest prepared to joust for the ultimate palmares….

Albon kicked off the battle of the bankers, because, why not, right? Perez was next to pop up, then Verstappen, Alonso, Sainz and Ocon. Hamilton, Norris and Russell were last out, leaving just Leclerc perhaps waiting in the pits for another tow like Ferrari did in Q2, but with Leclerc on his outlap towing Sainz down the straight. And indeed that is exactly what happened. Oh no and a tyre mistake from Ferrari on Leclerc’s car. He was on new tyres, but perhaps was meant to be used. AS the last of the cars rocked across the line, it was Sainz outpointing Perez, Ocon to P4 with Verstappen as usual, quickest of all and winning the battle of the bankers.. The rest were on used Softs and it was Leclerc, finishing his unexpected lap, taking P4 away from Ocon and probably doing enough to guarantee he would start beside Verstappen on the grid.

Albon was first out of the pits, then it was Sainz, Ocon, Hamilton, Alonso Perez and Russell, with Verstappen out of the car and apparently not going to help his teammate beat Sainz. Ocon dropped behind Sainz and Hamilton followed Alonso who had managed to get himself behind Ocon. Leclerc again popped out of the pits to give Sainz the tow down the straight. But Hamilton gained even more following the slippery Alpines and all eyes went to the times of Perez, but without a tow he wound up 0.165 seconds off the back of Sainz, who would be starting the race P1, though he finished behind Verstappen, who was taking all the penalties. Perez finished P3 with Leclerc and Ocon rounding out the top 5. Alonso, Hamilton, Russell, Albon and Norris finished out the order, though with penalties it was less important than usual. Although awaiting official confirmation from the FIA, the front of the race tomorrow was going to be Sainz, Perez, Alonso, Hamilton, Russell and Albon.

Although technically taking some glory from starting Sainz at the front, the speed of the Red Bull would have to be a worrying factor for Ferrari, as the ideal overtaking spots are at the end of the long quick bits where Red Bull appear to have a decent advantage.

Red Bull will be delighted with the performance of their car, though no confirmation available as to whether one or both drivers are rocking their rumoured, new and lighter weight chassis. Regardless, car characteristics would seem to give Perez more than a good chance against the Ferrari of Sainz, but best of all Verstappen looked well set to make quick progress up the grid more easily than Leclerc, who will have to count on tyre degradation to help him clear the midfield.

Despite the personnel pyrotechnics at Alpine, there seemed to be no operational issues as Ocon and Alonso each helped to maximise the team result impeccably, with the fun result that Alonso starts P3 tomorrow and ahead of both Mercedes in a car that will be fiendishly hard to pass in the usual places (Turn 5 and Turn 17 just in case you didn’t know).

Mercedes continue to be confusing with their performance, though once again the cold track temps suggest that they had overprioritised tyre wear in designing the car and with their toys taken away, were still struggling a bit in cooler conditions. Should be better in the race once they get going but Alonso is certainly a fly in their ointment at the start.

But it is Williams that will be popping the champers, as whatever had been holding them back, and yes, tyres is likely the answer to that riddle, Albon crushed it, going P9 on merit and starting P6 tomorrow. Still a tall order for them to stay in the points, but the Williams was quickest of all in Sector 1 and if they have solved their tyre degradation problem as well as their tyre warmup problem then tomorrow is about to get real interesting. Norris will start behind Ocon at the back so that was likely a strategic decision as no real point in trying any harder but the battle between McLaren and Alpine is very, VERY real so not getting Ricciardo into Q3 will rankle a bit.

Tomorrow’s race should be predictably bonkers, with P1 not as useful as at other circuits and a slew of faster cars starting at the way back. The Perez/Sainz battle should be interesting but Alonso might be the one to watch at the start as with a tow down the straight he could make things very complicated as they head into the braking zone for Turn 5, or Les Combes if one must. Albon in P6 will be a story, though which one remains to be seen and well, Verstappen, Leclerc etc trying to get through traffic quickly should make the first stint quite a busy one for the TV director…

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