The Mercedes driver revelled in damp conditions to pull out a one minute 58.179 second lap, beating Vettel by a whopping 0.726 seconds
Lewis Hamilton
Lewis Hamilton made the most of a late shower in qualifying yesterday to seize an unlikely pole position for the Belgian Grand Prix, even as the fickle Spa weather dashed his Ferrari rival Sebastian Vettel’s hopes of snatching the top spot.
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The Mercedes driver revelled in the damp and greasy conditions to pull out a one minute 58.179 second lap, beating Vettel by a whopping 0.726 seconds. The German will line up alongside in second but, together with teammate Kimi Raikkonen, had looked a good bet for pole with Ferrari unbeaten through practice and topping the timesheets in the opening two parts of qualifying. But the rain, which hit just as the final 12 minute pole-position shootout got underway, levelled the playing field in favour of Hamilton, who came into his own in the treacherous conditions.
“It was one of the toughest qualifying sessions I can remember,” said Hamilton, who ran wide and off the track at one stage.
“I can’t even express to you how difficult it was. The track looks dry in some places but it’s actually wet. I think everyone’s on the edge of their seats, but I think this is what is great about this sport,” he added.
Yesterday’s pole was the 78th of Hamilton’s career and a record fifth. It comes at a track where the Briton last year equalled seven-time world champion Michael Schumacher’s then record haul of 68 career poles.
Vettel, meanwhile, was left pondering what could have been. The German trails his Mercedes rival by 24 points in the overall standings with nine races to go and went into the weekend desperately needing to claw back some of the deficit.
Yesterday’s qualifying also marked the third weekend in a row that Vettel has been bested in the wet by Hamilton. “I think we had the pace today for pole, but we’ll never find out,” the 31-year-old, slightly downcast, said after the session on the grid, with the sun now shining.
“I think the gap was quite big, so deserved for Lewis to get the pole. Anything can happen,” he added of today’s race, his hopes of overhauling Hamilton now pinned on his Ferrari’s speed in race conditions.
Pole for Hamilton wasn’t the only surprise the changeable weather delivered. Frenchman Esteban Ocon starred taking third for Force India ahead of teammate Sergio Perez. Fresh out of administration, under new ownership and racing as a fresh entry, the result provided a silver lining to the cloud the team have recently been under, with their participation this weekend in doubt until Thursday. “It’s awesome to be in P3 in such a difficult time,” said Ocon, who made his debut at the Spa circuit two years ago.
“We are starting afresh and definitely happy with that result. Let’s bring it home tomorrow,” added the Mercedes-backed 21-year-old, whose future is in doubt following the team’s change of ownership.
Romain Grosjean took fifth for Haas. Kimi Raikkonen, a four-time winner at Spa and the last driver to take victory there for Ferrari in 2009, was only sixth. The Finn was forced to watch the closing minutes of the session from the sidelines, shaking his head, with Ferrari not having put enough fuel in his car.
Max Verstappen was seventh in front of his legions of Dutch fans ahead of Renault-bound Red Bull teammate Daniel Ricciardo, who took eighth.
Kevin Magnussen was ninth ahead of Valtteri Bottas. The Finn, who survived a lurid slide across the track when the rain first hit, is set to line up at the back of the grid anyway due to engine-related grid penalties.
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