LEWIS HAMILTON has been handed a huge opportunity to finally secure a first place finish on the podium this season.
Leclerc and Verstappen are two of six drivers who have been penalised for using more engine parts than required.
Which means that the Formula One icons will both start from the back of the grid in the race later on today, despite clocking good times on the timesheets.
But the Hamilton still has work to do as the seven-time champion could only manage a fourth place finish in yesterday's qualifying.
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- Sunday, August 28: Belgian Grand Prix race 2pm
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- Kieran Davies
Finn heads for Spa birthday break
Valtteri Botas heads into the Belgian Grand Prix today looking to mark his 33rd birthday with a performance for Alfa Romeo.
However, the Finnish driver was handed an early birthday present in the form of a three place penalty on the grid for failing to respect the yellow flag in qualifying on Saturday.
Not quite the present he was expecting am sure but never the less, Happy Birthday Valtteri.
Credit: @F1 - Ben Hunt
Top 10 on the grid
With the penalties applied it is:
Sainz, Perez, Alonso, Hamilton, Russell, Albon, Ricciardo, Gasly, Stroll and Vettel.
- Ben Hunt
Verstappen tops the timesheets
It is Verstappen, Sainz, Perez, Leclerc, Ocon, Alonso, Hamilton, Russell, Albon and Norris.
- Ben Hunt
Verstappen looks done for the day
Hardly unlikely anyone will beat that lap time, but with his engine and gearbox penalties, he will start in 15th place.
- Ben Hunt
Sainz is second quickest
The Ferrari man is a whopping 0.632 seconds behind the Red Bull. Perez in P3 and Leclerc in P4.
- Ben Hunt
Verstappen has blasted his way to P1
The Red Bull man is unstoppable and rifles in the quickest lap of the day. – He's got penalties looming though…
- Ben Hunt
Ferrari mistake!
"Wait! What are these tyres?" asks Leclerc over the radio to his team.
"Sorry, that's our mistake", replies his engineer.
- Ben Hunt
Q3 is go
Grid penalties mean we are still waiting to see who will line up in 15th, 16th, 17th and 18th in the race.
Albon assured at least a sixth place start.
- Ben Hunt
Albon is through
Ricciardo is given the boot from Q2 at the expense of the Williams.
Schumacher, Stroll, Zhou, Gasly are joining him.
- Ben Hunt
Final seconds of Q2
Hamilton is dangerously close to being eliminated here.
- Ben Hunt
Scrappy stuff from Leclerc
The Ferrari man is pushing hard and nearly loses the rear of his Ferrari. He is not happy with the set-up of his car. he is currently in P6.
- Ben Hunt
Q2 is go
We are off again at Spa and the battle to reach the top 10. Hamilton and Russell are already out on track.
- Ben Hunt
Eliminated from Q1
Vettel, Latifi, Magnussen, Tsunoda and Bottas are all eliminated at the first hurdle.
- Ben Hunt
Great stuff from Albon
The Williams man has got into Q2 with a fine final lap. He pushes Vettel into the drop zone.
- Ben Hunt
Mercedes are struggling
Russell is in 10th and Hamilton is in 11th, but their car is all over the place. Big problems right now.
- Ben Hunt
Red Bull set the pace
Early indication that Red Bull have the pace as Verstappen goes half a second quicker than Sainz after his first flying lap.
Perez in P3 and Leclerc in P4.
- Ben Hunt
We are underway at Spa
After the delay, there is a green light in the pitlane.
- Ben Hunt
Qualifying will start in 15 minutes
Finally, we are due to get underway here at Spa. Barrier has been repaired and it is declared safe.
- Ben Hunt
Delay to qualifying
There was damage to a crash barrier during the Porsche Supercup, which has forced a delay to qualifying.
The repairs have now been completed and we are waiting for a time for when this session will start.
- Lloyd Canfield
Leclerc was in the gravel.
Charles Leclerc spun off of the track in FP3, but managed to avoid a big crash with the barriers.
The man from Monaco also had an interesting chat via the radio with his team, as he said:
"Can we take off the noises that go with the toggles because they are a bit weird, when I hear it I think it is the engine all the time."
Ferrari's engine troubles have been well documented so far this season, and that is clearly taking its toll on their drivers.
Leclerc was in the gravel in FP3 today.Credit: Getty - Lloyd Canfield
Qualifying just an hour away
The Qualifying for the Spa GP will begin in just under an hours time.
Sergio Perez set the fastest time in FP3, after teammate Max Verstappen appeared to have the faster car in FP1 and FP2.
After the red flag period ended, Perez posted the quickest lap of the session so far. An even more impressive feat considering light rain was creeping in…
- Lloyd Canfield
Disappointing for Hamilton.
Lewis Hamilton ended the final practice in 12th place today, ahead of qualifying.
This is not good news for the Brit, who will be hoping for a better performance in qualifying ahead of tomorrow's Grand Prix in Spa.
This was expected to be a big race for Lewis, with many of his usual competitors starting from the back of the grid due to penalties.
- Ben Hunt
Perez tops the session
The Red Bull man finishes as the quickest driver in the final practice ahead of Verstappen, who could face a further penalty for ignoring yellow flags.
Sainz, Norris, Alonso, Russell, Leclerc, Vettel, Ocon and Gasly make up the top 10.
Hamilton? He's down in 12th place.
- Ben Hunt
Leclerc spins – Red flag
The Ferrari man was pushing too hard and spins. He bounces his car off the tyre wall.
The race director has already red flagged the session. The clock is still counting down. We have just over six minutes to go.
- Ben Hunt
Perez leads Sainz
Finally, the big teams are getting their quick laps in. Red Bull and Ferrari both showing their hands.
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