Mercedes AMG was unstoppable at today’s qualifying session for the 2015 Formula One Belgian Grand Prix at the legendary Spa-Francorchamps. It was star driver Lewis Hamilton quickest; he posted a 1:47.197 in Q3 to secure his third Belgian Grand Prix pole and the 48th of his F1 career. And it was also the Briton’s sixth consecutive pole in a single season, which is a record matched only by Mika Häkkinen in the 1999 season.
Mercedes’ other driver Nico Rosberg wasn’t far off the pace of his teammate, with the German having put in a 1:47.655 lap time in Q3 to secure the remaining spot on the front row. Behind them will be Williams’ Valtteri Bottas in third and Force India’s Sergio Perez in fourth. Lotus’ Romain Grosjean was actually fourth fastest today but will suffer a five-place grid penalty due to a gearbox change.
Thus, at fifth on the grid will be Infiniti Red Bull Racing’s Daniel Ricciardo and at sixth will be Williams’ other driver Felipe Massa. Behind them will be Lotus’ other man Pastor Maldonado at seventh and Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel at eighth. At ninth will be Grosjean due to his grid penalty and rounding out the top ten will be Toro Rosso’s Carlos Sainz.
There weren’t any major dramas but Ferrari’s other man Kimi Räikkönen, who was quite quick during the practice sessions, suffered car problems during Q2. He will start at 14th on the grid. Forced to start even further back because of power unit changes will be McLaren drivers Fernando Alonso and Jenson Button as well as Toro Rosso’s Max Verstappen.
Going into tomorrow’s race, Hamilton leads the 2015 Drivers’ Championship with 202 points. Rosberg is second with 181 points and Vettel is third with 160. In the Constructors’ Championship, Mercedes leads with 383 points followed by Ferrari with 236 and Williams with 151.
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