Andrew Benson
BBC F1 correspondent at Spa-Francorchamps

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Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc will start the Belgian Grand Prix from pole position after qualifying second fastest behind Red Bull’s Max Verstappen.

World champion Verstappen dominated qualifying in the rain and beat Leclerc by 0.595 seconds but has a 10-place grid penalty for exceeding his permitted number of engine components.

Red Bull’s Sergio Perez was third fastest, so will be promoted to the front row alongside Leclerc.

Lewis Hamilton will start third for Mercedes, ahead of the McLarens of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri.

Mercedes’ George Russell was seventh fastest, from Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz, Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso and the Alpine of Esteban Ocon.

Read the full report here

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The wet weather is leaving Spa-Francorchamps (hopefully), which will pave the way for a dry Belgian Grand Prix on Sunday.

Charles Leclerc should, in theory, have the best spot on the grid with pole position now in his possession, but leading the field from lights out is not always an advantage in Belgium.

The Ferrari driver has Sergio Perez, who hasn't been near the front for a long while, and Lewis Hamilton's Mercedes just behind him.

And then there's Max Verstappen in P11. Can the Dutchman claim a fourth consecutive win at Spa? He's done it before from outside the top 10...

We'll be back for race build-up from 13:00 BST tomorrow.

Enjoy the rest of your Saturday!

Will Buxton and Scott Mitchell-Malm join Rosanna Tennant in Spa.

The team look ahead to this weekend’s race and ask what we learned about McLaren after last weekend in Hungary.

They team also hear from Lando Norris on how he reflects on being told to give up the win for his team-mate. And Max Verstappen is also on the podcast as Red Bull continue to find themselves on the back foot.

Listen on BBC Sounds here.

The team will be back tonight with a qualifying review podcast.

Image source, Reuters

Lando Norris is chatting to Sky Sports and says he was "struggling a lot out there" in his McLaren with "confidence and high speed".

He adds: "For some reason this weekend, I've just not clicked like I have in the previous races. I feel like I've had to try very hard to understand how to drive the car in every corner, whereas the last few weeks and months it's kind of come a lot more naturally."

Norris ends with winning "is still the target".

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Red Bull's Sergio Perez, who qualified third but will move up to second on the grid: "It was very tricky at times. Obviously as always in these conditions it is easy for it to go wrong. I lost the last few qualifying in this position so it was good to put it together."

On missing out on pole position: "Every weekend it’s a new opportunity to do better. Tomorrow is a new opportunity to do even better than today and go for that win.

"It’s a very long race ahead of us. I think degradation will be quite tricky and graining with this new tarmac. There are a lot of unknowns still but I’ve got a good feeling for tomorrow."

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Ferrari's Charles Leclerc, who qualified P2 but will start on pole position: "I definitely did not expect that this weekend with the tricky conditions. We have done something above our explications, so it's a good day for the team. Now we need to focus on tomorrow and see what will happen whenever the rain is gone.

"Without this rain, [aiming for] probably P5. That was the position we were fighting for, with Mercedes especially. But with the rain, it helped us a little bit. But I'm not going to complain - I'm really happy. I'm very happy with the lap in Q3 and it's good to be back on the front part of the grid, but now we've got to finalise that tomorrow.

On his approach to the first lap from pole position: "Not the easiest place to keep on the first lap here. Every start is different, then once I'm in the car tomorrow through Eau Rouge, I'll decide what the best thing is I can do, But I'll try and keep that first place."

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Red Bull's Max Verstappen, who took pole position but will start P11 due to a grid penalty: "It was a nice qualifying. Luckily the weather was OK, it was just raining a little but so we could do a decent qualifying.

"The tyres worked well – we could do good lap times and we did not know about Q3 and whether the track would dry out.

"Very happy, the car was doing quite well in the wets and I could just try to do clean lap times in the wet.

"Tomorrow is going to be a different day, it’s going to be warmer."

The umbrellas are out again at Spa, so let's have a look at what the top three had to say following that qualifying session...

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This is the third season in a row that Max Verstappen has taken pole position in Belgium but a Ferrari driver has started there instead because of his engine penalties.

Max Verstappen only needed a handful of laps to reclaim his P1 position from sixth spot before going on to win the Belgian Grand Prix in 2023.

What chances do you give him tomorrow from 11th on the grid?

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11. Alex Albon (Williams)

12. Pierre Gasly (Alpine)

13. Daniel Ricciardo (RB)

14. Valtteri Bottas (Sauber)

15. Lance Stroll (Aston Martin)

16. Nico Hulkenberg (Haas)

17. Kevin Magnussen (Haas)

18. Yuki Tsunoda (RB)

19. Logan Sargeant (Williams)

20. Zhou Guanyu (Sauber)

1. Max Verstappen (Red Bull) - 1:53.159

2. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari)

3. Sergio Perez (Red Bull)

4. Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes)

5. Lando Norris (McLaren)

6. Oscar Piastri (McLaren)

7. George Russell (Mercedes)

8. Carlos Sainz (Ferrari)

9. Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin)

10. Esteban Ocon (Alpine)

Image source, Reuters

In a repeat of last year's Belgian Grand Prix, Charles Leclerc says 'thank you very much' and inherits Max Verstappen's Spa pole by qualifying in second place.

Sergio Perez finishes third, Lewis Hamilton is fourth for Mercedes and McLaren's Lando Norris completes the top five in fifth - with all drivers moving up the order on Sunday.

Wow. But Charles Leclerc can! The Monegasque driver can't beat Max Verstappen's provisional pole time, but he goes into P2 alongside the Dutchman, which will become pole once Verstappen's 10-place penalty is applied.

The Ferrari of Carlos Sainz is the latest driver trying to improve his current position on Sunday's starting grid. The Spaniard isn't hitting a purple sector in the opening part of the lap, so can he pick up the pace go higher than seventh? Nope.

Marc Priestley
Former F1 mechanic on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra

Mercedes going back to the previous car specification when it comes to the floor. It worked well for them at Silverstone because of these conditions, but because of these mixed conditions they weren’t able to test it.

It’s a known quantity and the drivers know what they’re going to get out of it.

Lewis Hamilton, Oscar Piastri and George Russell can't improve on their second hot lap - but Lando Norris can. The Briton hasn't moved too far up the order, but he has pushed his team-mate Piastri down into P5. Norris is sharing a row with Hamilton in fourth place.

So, Red Bull are on the front row as it stands, with Lewis Hamilton and Oscar Piastri behind the pair on the second row. George Russell and Lando Norris are fifth and sixth, while the two Ferraris of Carlos Sainz and Charles followed by Fernando Alonso and Esteban Ocon complete the top 10.

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Max Verstappen is doing everything he can to make that 10-place grid fall less painful. The Red Bull driver is now on provisional pole with a time of 1:53.159.

And team-mate Sergio Perez goes second fastest!