Norris: That was shocking

Red Bull's Verstappen reigned supreme at a rain-hit Spa-Francorchamps to claim pole position for Formula 1’s concluding round before its four-week summer shutdown.

But the triple F1 World Champion driver will be relegated to 11th when the lights go out at Sunday’s 44-lap contest for taking on his fifth internal combustion engine, one more than he is permitted.

Norris, 76 points behind Verstappen in the standings, would have been keen to lay down a marker to his Red Bull rival, but the McLaren man was not at the races here.

Fastest in dry practice at the fearsome Spa-Francorchamps venue on Friday, Norris was then eight tenths behind Verstappen in the rain. He will have to pass a Ferrari, Red Bull and Mercedes to win, with Charles Leclerc, Sergio Perez and Lewis Hamilton all ahead of him on the grid.

“About as good as I could do today,” said Norris on the radio after he qualified fifth. “That was shocking.”

The 24-year-old arrived in the Ardennes “ashamed” that his radio row with race engineer Will Joseph at the Hungaroring – after he was ordered to concede the lead – overshadowed team-mate Oscar Piastri’s first win.

Norris reported: “I was struggling a lot out there with the confidence at high speed. For some reason this whole weekend I’ve just not clicked as much as I felt like I’ve done in the previous races.

“The last few weeks and months have come naturally, but so far it is just one of those weekends where I am struggling to get that nice, natural feeling. It’s not the result I wanted, honestly, and I’ve got to overtake some quick cars tomorrow. But I’ll look over the car tonight and make sure we’re as prepared as we can be.”

Asked if he can add to his sole career win in Miami, Norris replied: “That is the target.”

Of course, all is not lost for Norris. He will start seven places ahead of Verstappen and, in dry conditions, he is expected to have one of the quickest, if not the speediest machines underneath him.

But he, and his peers, will also be looking in their wing mirrors with Verstappen, a winner of the last three races staged in Belgium, on a different level in qualifying.

The Dutchman was 1.4 seconds faster than any other driver – and two seconds clear of Perez in the other Red Bull – after the 20 drivers had completed their opening efforts on a damp surface.

And although Verstappen’s advantage by the end was not quite as emphatic, with Leclerc 0.595 sec adrift, the Dutch driver proved just why he should not be written off.

“Max is definitely a threat,” added Norris. “They had a lot more in the bag in practice, but they didn’t turn the engine up and we did. So, 100 per cent he will be coming through the field quickly.”

Verstappen then ramped up the pressure on Norris by indicating it is the Englishman's to lose: “Looking at McLaren’s pace in practice yesterday, it was incredibly strong, and they look comfortable out there.

“Yes, they are starting slightly further back, but they are so fast they will quickly challenge for the front and the lead. For me, it depends on how I get through the first lap. It is definitely still damage limitation," reckoned Verstappen.