F1 Starting Grid 2022 Belgian Grand Prix

Event: Belgian Grand Prix
Track: Spa-Francorchamps Circuit

Warm-up lap starts at: 15:00 Local | 15:00 CET | 14:00 UK | 06:00 LA | 22:00 Tokio

Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz will start from pole position today. Although he will start from P1 for the second time in his F1 career, he probably will not be as happy as you would think. The Spanish driver was over 0.6 sec. slower than local hero Max Verstappen who was flying in the Red Bull RB18! The Red Bull team decided to use additional power unit elements than they are allowed, which caused Verstappen has to start from the back because off engine penalties.

The Ferrari team made the same strategic decision for Charles Leclerc and also has to start from the back, right behind Verstappen. It will be interesting to see how both ace drivers will go to the front during the race this afternoon.

F1 Starting Grid 2022 Belgian GP

*Notes:

• Max Verstappen, Esteban Ocon and Lando Norris required to start from the back of the grid for use of additional power unit elements.
• Charles Leclerc penalised 40 grid places for use of additional power unit and gearbox elements.
• Valtteri Bottas and Mick Schumacher 30 grid places for use of additional power unit and gearbox elements.
• Yuki Tsunoda required to start from the pit lane - Car modified whilst under Parc Fermé conditions and additional power unit elements have been used

✅ Don't forget to check out our 2022 Belgian F1 Grand Prix preview info.

How did Sainz won his second pole?

Former F1 and Le Mans legend Jacky Ickx presents Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing, with the pole award at Spa (Photo by Mark Sutton / LAT Images)

Red Bull’s Max Verstappen was fastest in qualifying for the Belgian Grand Prix, but he is one of many drivers taking a grid penalty tomorrow, so Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz – second quickest in the session – will start from pole position. All the drivers used the P Zero Red soft tyres to set their qualifying times.

Conditions were cool throughout the qualifying hour (delayed for 25 minutes for barrier repairs after an earlier accident) with 17 degrees ambient and 22 degrees of track temperature. One of the stand-out performances in qualifying today was from Williams driver Alex Albon, who will line up on tomorrow’s grid in P6. Red Bull driver Sergio Perez went fastest in FP3 earlier today on the soft tyre, where conditions were once more cool and dry.

The Pirelli Pole Position Award was presented by Belgian racing legend Jacky Ickx: a six-time Le Mans winner who also won eight Formula 1 grands prix and finishing runner-up in the F1 drivers’ championship twice (in 1969 and 1970), as well as triumphing on the Dakar Rally in 1983.

Possible 2022 Belgian F1 GP Race Strategy

The 44 laps of the Belgian Grand Prix can be tackled with either a one-stop or a two-stop strategy, although there are different permutations of one-stopper possible, along with a more aggressive two-stop strategy.

So far weather conditions have been variable but tomorrow should be a bit warmer, with the tactical picture made more complex by the fact that a number of fast cars will be starting from the back due to grid penalties. Starting on the P Zero Yellow medium is the most flexible approach, which gives the option to switch to either the P Zero White hard or the P Zero Red soft as part of a one-stopper, while leaving the door open for a two-stopper if needed. Starting on the soft doesn’t exclude a one-stopper, but it requires either an early stop for the hard or careful management to then go on the medium.

A different and more aggressive approach could be to use the soft as a part of two-stopper, perhaps with two stints on the medium tyre. This might compromise track position but could be a good option for a fast car if there is a safety car, or degradation on the soft turns out to be quite high. That will be largely dependent on the weather conditions, but tomorrow is likely to be run in conditions that none of the teams have experienced yet.

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