Charles Leclerc remained in a class of his own after securing a dominant pole for the Belgian Grand Prix.
His rivals simply had no response to the Monegasque as he took what is his third P1 in qualifying this season with teammate Sebastian Vettel completing an all-Ferrari front row.
Q1
Qualifying began with a dramatic engine failure for Robert Kubica in another worrying sign for Mercedes’ updated power unit.
That required a red flag which would actually give the German manufacturer more time to finish the final repairs on Lewis Hamilton’s car following his crash in final practice.
Charles Leclerc set a rapid pace for Ferrari, half a second clear of teammate Sebastian Vettel.
Hamilton safely got his first run completed as attention switched to Verstappen as he suffered a loss of power on his first flying lap.
Under pressure, a reset in the garage proved enough as he re-emerged to claim third in the Red Bull.
The session would end as it started, however, as Antonio Giovinazzi suffered an engine failure on the approach to Eau Rouge.
His Ferrari engine in the Alfa Romeo is the updated unit which the Italian team is expected to take next weekend at Monza.
The early stoppage caught out several drivers, with Pierre Gasly and Carlos Sainz in 16th and 17th.
Daniil Kvyat followed in P18 but was already set to start at the back after his engine change.
While George Russell brought up the timesheets in 19th, but will only move up due to the penalties for others.
Q2
The top five all make it through with no concerns and all opt for the soft compound tyre which temperatures set to drop substantially for Sunday’s race.
Leclerc and Vettel continued to lead the way and lowered the benchmark, dipping below 1m43s in their second run.
Alex Albon would be the only exception as the new Red Bull man dropped down the field with his final position irrelevant due to engine penalties.
In the chase to make the top 10, Haas would find themselves on either side of the divide with Kevin Magnussen beating Romain Grosjean by just 0.059s to make Q3.
Lando Norris would be the only other driver to fall without intention in 12th as Lance Stroll opted not to complete a second run due to his engine penalty in the Racing Point.
Albon would follow in 14th with Giovinazzi unable to take part after his engine failure at the end of Q1.
Q3
The fight for pole began with madness on the out-lap as Hulkenberg held up the pack as everyone jockeyed for a slipstream with Hamilton also hitting the back of Bottas in the process.
Ferrari would be less affected though as Leclerc set the pace, 0.6s clear as a mistake at La Source for Vettel saw him down in third.
The second run saw drivers become more concerned about time than a tow but no-one would stop the Monegasque as he improved again with a 1m42.519s to clinch a third pole of the season.
Vettel jumped ahead of Hamilton into second, giving Ferrari a second front-row lock-out of the year with Hamilton and Bottas third and fourth.
Verstappen couldn’t join the fight but will be satisfied with fifth as he looks to be more competitive in the race for Red Bull.
Renault confirmed their strong performance on low downforce circuits as Daniel Ricciardo and Nico Hulkenberg secured ‘best of the rest’ in sixth and seventh.
Both drivers will fall five places due to engine penalties, however, promoting Kimi Raikkonen up the order for Alfa Romeo.
Sergio Perez couldn’t quite keep Racing Point at the front of the midfield finishing ninth fastest as Magnussen completed the top 10 for Haas.
Full results from qualifying can be seen below:
