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F1

George Russell tips Max Verstappen for win at Belgian Grand Prix

Mercedes driver George RusselL expects his Red Bull rival Max Verstappen to win the Belgian Grand Prix on Sunday despite starting from 15th position.

Red Bull's Max Verstappen is still the favorite for the Belgian Grand Prix despite losing pole position

Max Verstappen qualified fastest at historic Spa-Francorchamps at 0.632 seconds clear.

However, the 24-year-old Red Bull driver and world championship leader is faced with a grid penalty for excessive engine usage and as such missed out on pole position in Sunday's Grand Prix.

Mercedes driver George Russell, who will start in fifth has now tipped Red Bull's Dutchman for success despite his starting position at the finals on Sunday.

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"Max is probably going to slice through and win the race pretty comfortably.

"I think he and Red Bull are just miles ahead of everyone." Russel admitted.

The Mercedes driver isn't the only one who shares this sentiment as Ferrari's Carlos Sainz, who qualified second to Verstappen and was awarded pole position also believes Verstappen could fight for the win.

"Especially with the pace Max has, as soon as there is a safety car, or even with the pace he has, with 42 laps he can come back and we have seen him do it before." Sainz said.

Sainz also added that Verstappen's pace over the weekend was "a bit puzzling" as he was more than 0.5secs ahead of the rest in every (tyre) compound and every situation".

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Verstappen, who won the Hungarian Grand Prix from 10th on the grid, starts one place ahead of title rival Charles Leclerc of Ferrari, who also faces engine penalty and is optimistic of a strong result.

"With the pace we have in the car I want to move forward and be at least on the podium," Red Bull's Dutchman said.

Verstappen's performance this season has been a huge blow to Leclerc, who is 80 points behind his rival and effectively needs to beat him at pretty much every race to have any hope of beating him to the title this year.

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Here's how the drivers will start at this Sunday's Belgian Grand Prix:

  1. Carlos Sainz - Ferrari
  2. Sergio Perez - Red Bull
  3. Fernando Alonso - Alpine
  4. Lewis Hamilton - Mercedes
  5. George Russell - Mercedes
  6. Alex Albon - Williams
  7. Daniel Ricciardo - McLaren
  8. Pierre Gasly - Scuderia AlphaTauri
  9. Lance Stroll - Aston Martin
  10. Sebastian Vettel - Aston Martin
  11. Nicholas Latifi - Williams
  12. Kevin Magnussen - Haas
  13. Yuki Tsunoda - Scuderia AlphaTauri
  14. Valtteri Bottas - Alfa Romeo
  15. Max Verstappen - Red Bull
  16. Charles Leclerc - Ferrari
  17. Esteban Ocon - Alpine
  18. Lando Norris - McLaren
  19. Zhou Guanyu - Alfa Romeo
  20. Mick Schumacher - Haas

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