What time does qualifying for the 2021 Belgian Grand Prix start?

On Saturday the drivers will qualify for the Belgian Grand Prix after a third free practice. Judging by Friday's times, Max Verstappen, Valtteri Bottas and Lewis Hamilton are very close to each other when it comes to pole position.

Three drivers within one-tenth

On Friday afternoon Verstappen, Bottas and Hamilton were within 0.1 second of each other in terms of time. Verstappen was just the fastest, followed by the Finn and then Hamilton. It could become very exciting on Saturday. Friday morning was by the way a prey for Bottas.

After the top three in FP2 there is a gap of almost half a second to Fernando Alonso and Pierre Gasly who are very evenly matched. Sergio Perez is in tenth place, almost a second behind Verstappen.

Will the weather play a role?

It could be a rainy weekend in the Belgian Ardennes. It is cold and although the Formula 1 sessions have not been affected by heavy rainfall, it is raining regularly. So it is important for the teams and drivers to choose the right setup that is good in both rain and dry conditions.

This is when the spectacle starts

First, the third and final free practice session will take place on Saturday at 12:00. The battle for pole position starts on Saturday at 14:00. GPblog will report on this event in the live blog so you miss nothing of the action on the track.