MAX VERSTAPPEN apologised for a foul-mouthed rant at his race engineer during Belgian Grand Prix qualifying.
The Dutchman scraped through the second qualifying session at a soggy Spa in tenth having initially struggled in his all-conquering Red Bull.
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Verstappen, 25, went on to finish 0.8 seconds clear of Charles Leclerc but was stripped of pole position after landing a five-place grid penalty for an unscheduled gearbox change.
As he crossed the line, Verstappen had drawn a line over his spat with race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase by saying: “Sorry for the rant.”
He earlier fumed over his team’s radio: “I should have just pushed two laps in a row like I said.”
Lambiase replied: “But you are through Max…”
Verstappen snapped back: “I don’t give a f*** mate if I’m through in P10. Just s*** execution.”
Lambiase cut back: “And when the track was two seconds quicker for your final lap and you didn’t have any energy left, how would that have gone down?
“You tell me what you want to do in Q3, and we’ll do it. Let me know. Sets, fuel, run plan.”
Leclerc starts on pole tomorrow and Verstappen SIXTH — with a separate sprint race taking place today.
Verstappen admitted later: “The conditions were tricky and I was lucky in Q2 to be in P10 but in Q3 I could push more.
“I know I will drop back with the penalty but I did what I could. We know the car is quick even in these conditions.”
Despite the sanction, the world champion is eyeing an eighth consecutive F1 victory, having won here from much further back in 2022.
He said: “Last year, I started 14th and this year the car is better, so I am still aiming to win the race.”
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Despite being on pole, Leclerc does not expect to be a match for either Verstappen or Sergio Perez, with the Mexican second on the grid.
Leclerc said: “I am not confident, I have two Red Bull guys behind, who have a much faster race car.
“It is going to be difficult to keep those guys behind.”
Lewis Hamilton qualified in fourth but was subjected to TWO FIA investigations for rejoining the track after going wide.
He said: “This track is incredible to drive and it was hectic because it was constantly drying up but was slippery at the beginning and difficult to see.
“You know every lap is going to be faster than the next lap.
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“I was a big chunk off Max, which was very impressive, but I am very happy with the result.
“I have Max behind but the goal will be to chase those guys down.”
Lando Norris was seventh with George Russell eighth.
Daniel Ricciardo’s F1 honeymoon came to an abrupt end after he was eliminated from qualifying at the first attempt when his lap time was deleted for running wide.
The Aussie — handed a place back on the grid by Red Bull’s sister team AlphaTauri at last weekend’s Hungarian GP — will start 19th, just ahead of Nico Hulkenberg, whose Haas had a hydraulic issue.
Meanwhile, Alpine have axed team boss Otmar Szafnauer and sporting director Alan Permane.
The Oxfordshire-based outfit are in chaos having replaced chief exec Laurent Rossi earlier this month.
The team say both are leaving by mutual agreement and will stop working for Alpine after Sunday’s GP.
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