F1 2023 Belgian Grand Prix starting grid with penalties applied

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Belgian Grand Prix

F1 2023 Belgian Grand Prix starting grid with penalties applied

Max Verstappen will have to pick his way through the pack to continue winning streak

Chris Deeley Editor

Experienced sports writer covering F1 and other motorsports since 2023

Sunday 30 July 2023 13:20 Updated: 22:16

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Championship leader Max Verstappen will start sixth on the grid for Sunday's Belgian Grand Prix, after receiving a five-place grid penalty for a gearbox change at the start of the weekend.

That penalty put Ferrari's Charles Leclerc on pole for the second time this season, following his outstanding session in Baku.

He's joined on the front row by Sergio Perez, who secured his best starting position since the Miami Grand Prix all the way back at the start of May – having not started better than ninth since that race in Florida.

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Lewis Hamilton and Carlos Sainz will start on the second row behind them, both boosted a spot apiece by Verstappen's penalty, with Oscar Piastri in fifth the last driver whose place changed as a result of the Red Bull gearbox choice.

Best of the rest

Lando Norris, George Russell and the two Aston Martins round out the top 10, the latter pair hoping to fare better than their disastrous Saturday, in which both drivers made errors to retire from a session apiece.

Further down the grid, Kevin Magnussen was hit with a three-place penalty for impeding Charles Leclerc and dropped from 13th to 16th accordingly, while – not quite a penalty but still a punishment – Daniel Ricciardo starts just 19th after having his fastest lap in Q1 deleted for exceeding track limits.

His team-mate Yuki Tsunoda will be starting all the way up in 11th and that, combined with Ricciardo's strong performances in Saturday running, leaves that track limits violation feeling like it may have denied the Australian a genuine chance to score points.

Meanwhile, a late penalty has been applied to Nico Hulkenberg, who qualified 20th and last. For making changes to his car under Parc Ferme conditions, he will start from the pitlane.

The final grid is below.