Summary

  • Verstappen fastest but will start 11th after grid penalty for taking new power unit

  • Leclerc to start on pole, Perez on front row

  • Hamilton to start P3, P4 Norris, P5 Piastri

  • Albon, Gasly, Ricciardo, Bottas & Stroll eliminated in Q2

  • Hulkenburg, Magnussen, Tsunoda, Sargeant & Guanyu out in Q1

  1. What is the weather forecast for qualifying?published at 14:37 British Summer Time 27 July

    The Formula 2 sprint race was postponed earlier due to the wet conditions but as Andrew mentioned, the rain has eased off and the umbrellas have gone down.

    Weather Spa
  2. Rain respite... for nowpublished at 14:35 British Summer Time 27 July

    Andrew Benson
    BBC F1 correspondent

    Rain has stopped as qualifying approaches at the Belgian Grand Prix.

    More is expected part way through qualifying, it seems.

  3. Welcome backpublished at 14:33 British Summer Time 27 July

    Danny RicciardoImage source, Getty Images

    Hello again, folks. Trying to predict who will claim the best seat in the house for tomorrow's Belgian Grand Prix is a difficult task after this morning's damp squib of a third practice session.

    Qualifying gets under way at 15:00 BST.

    Commentary is online-only, so you need to click the 'listen live' tab at the top of this page to tune in. Or, you can ask BBC Sounds to play Belgian Grand Prix qualifying via most smart speakers and the team will meet you there.

    Weather update klaxon...

  4. Wet, wet, wetpublished at 14:30 British Summer Time 27 July

    Rain, rain, go away. Come again another day.

    Get ready for what could be a slippery dogfight for pole position at Spa.

    Fans in the rain at SpaImage source, Reuters
  5. Verstappen sets pace in sodden third practicepublished at 12:39 British Summer Time 27 July

    Andrew Benson
    BBC F1 correspondent

    Lance Stroll's carImage source, Getty Images

    Red Bull’s Max Verstappen set the pace in a final practice session at the Belgian Grand Prix truncated by wet conditions.

    Lance Stroll crashed his Aston Martin at the high-speed Eau Rouge to bring out the red flag after just 11 minutes.

    The session was restarted nine minutes later. But no drivers ventured out in the heavy rain before the red flag was shown again 14 minutes later because conditions were deemed to be too dangerous.

    The rest of the session was held under a red flag, until the drivers were allowed out with two minutes remaining so they could do practice starts.

    Verstappen, who has a 10-place grid penalty for exceeding his permitted allowance of engine parts, ended up 1.433 seconds quicker than McLaren’s Oscar Piastri.

    Alpine’s Pierre Gasly was third, from McLaren’s Lando Norris, the second Alpine of Esteban Ocon and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc.

    Most drivers managed only a single flying lap before Stroll’s accident.

    The Canadian lost control through the right-handed part of the left-right-left combination. He caught the initial slide but it took him off track into the run-off area, where the car spun a full 360 degrees before hitting the barrier left-front first.

    Mercedes have reverted to a previous specification of their car after trialling a new floor design on Friday.

    Lacking pace through Friday practice, and with wet conditions forecast throughout Saturday, the team decide their safest bet was to revert to the spec of floor with which Lewis Hamilton won at Silverstone two races ago and analyse the data from Friday back at the factory.

  6. Back at 14:30 BST for build-up to qualifyingpublished at 12:39 British Summer Time 27 July

    Wet.

    Damp.

    Soggy.

    And it'll be much of the same (we think) for the fight for pole position later on.

    We'll crank the live page up again at 14:30 BST for qualifying build-up.

    See you shortly!

  7. 'Qualifying will be high-risk session'published at 12:37 British Summer Time 27 July

    Marc Priestley
    Former F1 mechanic on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra

    You are going into a very high-risk session. The teams and drivers are under-prepared for this but with the track being so low grip, you can’t afford to go out qualifying half-hearted.

    You have to leave it all out there.

  8. Postpublished at 12:35 British Summer Time 27 July

    Some drivers are doing practice starts under the gloomy skies before we wrap up this final practice session completely. The rain is forecast to return for qualifying this afternoon.

  9. Postpublished at 12:33 British Summer Time 27 July

    Max Verstappen was top of the timesheets ahead of Oscar Piastri and Pierre Gasly.

  10. chequered flag

    Chequered flagpublished at 12:32 British Summer Time 27 July

    Third practice has been a washout.

  11. Postpublished at 12:31 British Summer Time 27 July

    Carlos Sainz was first in the queue to head out in the Ferrari. The Spaniard is kicking up a load of spray and is off the track already.

    It's nowhere near the type of spin that Lance Stroll experienced earlier - more just into the gravel - and Sainz is back up and running, but the conditions are still treacherous for the drivers.

  12. Two minutes to gopublished at 12:28 British Summer Time 27 July

    Just time for one lap in the wet and that'll be third practice over and done with.

  13. Postpublished at 12:28 British Summer Time 27 July

    Drivers, you have one minute to get ready.

    Charles LeclercImage source, Reuters
  14. Track clearpublished at 12:27 British Summer Time 27 July

    Red flag be gone!

  15. red flag

    Red flagpublished at 12:27 British Summer Time 27 July

    The dry fans are having a right old party in the grandstands. The clock is ticking down and the red flag is still very much in play here at Spa.

  16. Norris hoping to find 'rhythm'published at 12:25 British Summer Time 27 July

    Lando NorrisImage source, Getty Images

    After topping second practice, Lando Norris - who is 76 points behind leader Max Verstappen in the drivers' championship - said he still needs to find "rhythm" with his car.

    "I've just not felt very comfortable today with the car, so hopefully I'll just wake up tomorrow and feel a bit more comfortable with it," said the 24-year-old Briton.

    "We did try and improve a few things but I don't know, we looked good on the timesheets but I did not feel super-comfortable with going out and doing it."

    Norris said McLaren had a "prepared well and had a good set-up on the car", but added: "Just from my side, [in terms of] feeling like I could just go out and nail it, I'm not quite there just yet."

  17. red flag

    Red flagpublished at 12:23 British Summer Time 27 July

    Well, Charles Leclerc is putting his race helmet back on, and George Russell is climbing into the Mercedes cockpit. The red flag is still waving, however...

  18. red flag

    Red flagpublished at 12:20 British Summer Time 27 July

    Max VerstappenImage source, Getty Images

    The only replays we're being treated to at the moment is the competitive action from the karting track, with plenty of slipping and sliding happening on the soggy asphalt.

    Max Verstappen is chatting in the garage with Red Bull team principal Christian Horner and motorsport adviser Helmut Marko.

    OK, rain chat. Use the thumbs below.

    Can you see Verstappen leaving Red Bull and joining rivals Mercedes?

  19. Spa in a nutshellpublished at 12:17 British Summer Time 27 July

    Pierre GaslyImage source, Getty Images

    Spray and the blurred background of umbrellas and ponchos...

    It sure is lovely to be back at Spa!

  20. Weather updatepublished at 12:15 British Summer Time 27 July

    Ian Fergusson
    BBC weather forecaster

    Rain rate is now easing. However, high humidity/low cloudbase/poor visibility here up in the Ardennes leaves us with some fairly familiar Spa scenes...