Max Verstappen anticipates the predicted rain with a larger rear wing on his Red Bull, but he is not optimistic about his chances of winning Sunday’s Belgian Grand Prix. The world champion expects a battle with Charles Leclerc for third place.
Heavy rain is expected in the Ardennes, especially in the hours before the race. But also during the race, which will probably start on a wet track, there is still a 40 percent chance of showers.
Rain was always good news for Verstappen, but not in McLaren’s year. He recalled the earlier rain races of 2025: “We actually had no chance in those.” McLaren’s great strength is keeping the tires alive. “And that comes out even more in the rain.”
Verstappen wasn’t really optimistic. “We are fighting for P3,” he said himself. In it, he must at least beat Leclerc. He squeezed a time out of the Ferrari that he himself did not expect, despite a modified rear suspension on the car. He was unable to keep up with the pace at the front in the sprint race.
“It always takes a while before you have maximized everything again after such an intervention, but I have actually felt very comfortable in the car since the first training session.” Leclerc therefore hopes in the battle with Verstappen for the adjustments that were made before qualifying. “Hopefully we will have the upper hand with that.”
‘Hope for the fans that it stays dry’
At the front, the McLaren drivers, without crazy developments, will fight out who will take the win. Norris at least has the best starting position.
He hopes for a fun race. “And then I hope it stays dry, especially for the fans. I think it has rained here for the last ten years. Although I don’t care if it does rain. That’s pretty normal here.”
The top four are fairly separate from the rest of the field, especially with the surprising Alexander Albon with his Williams in fifth place. George Russell disappoints with a sixth starting place. “This is my worst qualification of the year, so we really need to understand what went wrong.”
Hamilton angry at himself
With Lewis Hamilton, who, like in the sprint race, has to come from behind due to a deducted lap time, the tone was harsher: “Unacceptable. I must apologize to the team. I have really done very badly.”
Mario Isola of Pirelli did not want to look too far ahead to a dry race due to all the rain forecasts. “But if it is dry at the start, then it does make sense to start on the mediums, so that drivers can last longer if rain is coming and you don’t want to stop for it.”
The Belgian Grand Prix starts on Sunday at 3 p.m. and counts 44 laps.