"He and Red Bull are just miles ahead of everyone"- George Russell tips Max Verstappen to 'comfortably' win Belgian GP

George Russell reckons Max Verstappen is the favourite to win the Belgian GP, despite his lowly starting position of 14th, as he's 'miles ahead' of everyone else.

Speaking to the media after posting a time that was more than 2 seconds slower than Verstappen in qualifying, Russell conceded that the Red Bull driver could scythe through the field on Sunday.

He said:

“I think Max is going to slice through and win the race probably pretty comfortably. I think he and Red Bull are just miles ahead of everyone. I don’t really know about Charles, to be honest.”

Speaking about his team's chances, Russell feels qualifying was not a true reflection of the team. He added that Mercedes should be able to overtake Fernando Alonso, who will start third. Russell said:

“I suppose we should be able to be ahead of Fernando (Alonso, who starts third), and we’ll probably end up in no man’s land behind the front four and ahead of everyone else. We know we don’t have a car that’s two seconds off the pace, so we clearly just didn’t get it right today. This is a bit of a one-off, but still, it’s a bit of a tough pill to swallow when you put it on pole in the last race.”

Despite topping qualifying, Verstappen will start the Beglian GP in 14th after taking new parts for his power unit. Ferrari's Charles Leclerc will start alongside him in P15, making for an interesting race.

---

Max Verstappen on his spectacular display in qualifying

Max Verstappen has been in splendid form at the Belgian GP all weekend. After he secured pole position with a gap of more than half a second, the Red Bull driver was overjoyed with the result, saying:

"It was an amazing qualifying; the car has been on it all weekend, and it's been very enjoyable to drive. We fine-tuned a few things overnight, and it seemed to work out. I'm very happy with my lap, and it's great to be here; it's a great track with amazing fans around; I hope they had a good day."

In what looks like an ominous sign for his rivals, Verstappen said that he will target a podium on Sunday. He said:

"Starting from the back tomorrow meant that I had to be careful with the tyres I was using throughout the session today. With a car like this, it will be a shame not to be on the podium tomorrow, that's what we are targeting."

It remains to be seen how the defending champion fares during the race as he eyes his ninth win of the season.