"Last year I had more penalties” - Max Verstappen undeterred by grid penalty as he seeks 8th consecutive win in the Belgium F1 GP

Max Verstappen added another pole position to his Formula 1 records after setting the fastest lap during the qualifying session of the 2023 Belgian Grand Prix. He out-lapped Charles Leclerc, who was on the provisional pole in his Ferrari, by 0.8 seconds, a massive gap.

However, he still has a 5-place grid penalty to serve for the race on Sunday due to a gearbox change, which means that Leclerc will get the head start in the race. Verstappen will have to start P6. But, he doesn't seem to be worried about it as he is ready to face the challenges (and has faced worse before).

Talking to Tom Kristensen post the qualifying session, he was asked if he is worried about the penalty, to which he replied:

"I mean, last year, I had more penalties and we could still win the race, so that's still the target on Sunday. But yeah, first let's see tomorrow, what the weather will do and what kind of racing we will have."

Grid penalties during the 2022 edition of the Belgian Grand Prix saw Max Verstappen start the race from P14. It was doubted if he will be able to get ahead to the podium.

However, his stunning race craft and Red Bull's amazing strategies saw him win the race, with 13 overtakes, and 17 seconds ahead of his teammate, Sergio Perez.

The 2023 season has seen him being much more dominating, and a P6 start wouldn't worry him in the RB19, since the power of the car is far greater than other teams on the grid. And that, along with Max Verstappen's driving, could see him win this Grand Prix too, and mark the team's 13th consecutive win.

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Max Verstappen could 'show' the power of the Red Bull's RB19 during qualifying

Max Verstappen

There was a slight issue during the Q2 session of qualifying, and Max Verstappen sat on P10 as the session came to an end. It was a lucky result for him. Otherwise, he would have been eliminated and required to start the race with the last five cars on the grid due to the penalties. However, that did not happen.

His final flying lap made it quite apparent that he would be the driver on the pole, as purple colours flashed through his lap times in all of the sectors, overpowering the 16-number Ferrari. He mentioned that he was confident about the power of the car, and was lucky to 'show' it.

"It was all about just feeling confident and basically risking everything in that final run to get more lap time and we know that the car was quick and I think even with these conditions. Luckily, we could show that again."