Red Bull driver Max Verstappen set a blistering final Q3 lap of 1:46.168 seconds Friday at Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps Stavelot, Belgium. The lap was a full 0.82s quicker than Ferrari's Charles Leclerc.

Leclerc, however, will start on the pole for the 68th running of the Belgium Grand Prix on Sunday as Verstappen will start P6, taking a five place grid penalty.

"We have a gearbox penalty for the race on Sunday, last year we had more penalties and started even further back but the car is better this year, so I am still targeting a win," said the F1 points leader.

The pole position is Leclerc's 20th at Ferrari.

"Our result is good, and we wouldn't have been able to finish in front of Max (Verstappen) today," said Leclerc. "I expect him to catch up in the race on Sunday and with [Perez] in the mix, it will be a good challenge."

Verstappen's teammate, Sergio Perez, will start outside the pole.

Mercedes driver, Lewis Hamilton, will start third. Ferrari's Carlos Sainz, last year's pole winner, will start fourth with McLaren rookie driver Oscar Piastri rounding out the top five.

After McLaren introduced upgrades in Austria and Silverstone, the young rookie driver, a native of Australia, has had a series of impressive Grand Prix's.

"Oscar did a very good job to go with that, being quick in all sessions and precise with his driving, and he'll start the race from a competitive P5," said Andrea Stella, McLaren Team Principal, adding, "We've got two McLarens up there for Sunday and hope to score decent points."

Earlier in the day it was announced that Alpine Team Principal Otmar Szafnauer and Sporting Director Alan Permane will be leaving the team after Belgian Grand Prix.

Pat Fry will also be leaving Alpine and will join Williams Racing as their Chief Technical Officer. The negotiations, Williams reported, had originally begun in April.

Bruno Famin, Vice President of Alpine Motorsports, will assume the role of Interim Team Principal at Alpine. Alpine Academy Director Julian Rouse has been named Interim Sporting Director.

Alpine drivers have had a string of bad luck recently with back-to-back double DNF's at Silverstone and last week's Hungarian Grand Prix.

Alpine is currently ranked 6th in the 2023 Constructor Standings.

Pos	Driver		Team		Time		Gap

1	Verstappen	Red Bull	1:46.168	147.570 mph
2	Leclerc		Ferrari		1:46.988	0.820
3	Perez		Red Bull	1:47.045	0.877
4	Hamilton	Mercedes	1:47.087	0.919
5	Sainz		Ferrari		1:47.152	0.984
6	Piastri		McLaren		1:47.365	1.197
7	Norris		McLaren		1:47.669	1.501
8	Russell		Mercedes	1:47.805	1.637
9	Alonso		Aston Martin	1:47.843	1.675
10	Stroll		Aston Martin	1:48.841	2.673
11	Tsunoda		AlphaTauri	1:53.148	
12	Gasly		Alpine		1:53.671	
13	Magnussen	Haas		1:54.160	
14	Bottas		Alfa Romeo	1:54.694	
15	Ocon		Alpine		1:56.372	
16	Albon		Williams	2:00.314	
17	Zhou		Alfa Romeo	2:00.832	
18	Sargeant	Williams	2:01.535	
19	Ricciardo	AlphaTauri	2:02.159	
20	Hulkenberg	Haas		2:03.166

(image provided by Aston Martin F1 Media)