With this weekend marking the return of Formula 1 after this season’s mid season break, it was Nico Rosberg who took pole position for tomorrow’s Belgian Grand Prix. Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen qualified in second place. Kimi Raikkonen will start in third.
Nico Rosberg Takes Pole Position In Belgium
Qualifying 1
Q1 marked the exit of the first six drivers from qualifying. Facing disappointment in his first Formula 1 qualification session was Manor’s Esteban Ocon who qualified in eighteenth place. Also making an exit from Q1 were the two Sauber cars of Marcus Ericsson and Felipe Nasr. Nasr qualified in seventeenth place, and Ericsson qualified in twentieth. Retiring to the paddock early was Lewis Hamilton, who will start the Belgian Grand Prix from the back row of the grid after multiple components in his power unit were changed earlier this weekend, promoting Hamilton to be awarded with numerous grid penalties. Fernando Alonso failed to post a lap after experiencing an engine issue, causing him to stop out on track. Toro Rosso’s Daniil Kvyat finished the session in nineteenth.
17. Felipe Nasr, Sauber, 1.48.944, 18. Esteban Ocon, Manor, 1.49.050, 19. Daniil Kvyat, Toro Rosso, 1.49.058, 20. Marcus Ericsson, Sauber, 1.49.071, 21. Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes, 1.50.033, 22. Fernando Alonso, McLaren, No time
Qualifying 2
Q2 marked the exit of both Renault cars and both Haas cars. It was Romain Grosjean who narrowly missed out on his first appearance in Qualifying 3, finishing Q2 in eleventh place. Renault’s Kevin Magnussen finished the session in twelfth, out qualifying his team mate, Jolyon Palmer who finished the session in fourteenth. Esteban Gutierrez finished the session in thirteenth, however, will be demoted 5 places for tomorrow’s race after impeding Pascal Wehrlein in Practice 3 this morning. Carlos Sainz finished the session in fifteenth and Wehrlein rounded out the standings for Q2 finishing in 16th place.
11. Romain Grosjean, Haas, 1.48.316, 12. Kevin Magnussen, Renault, 1.48.485, 13. Esteban Gutierrez, Haas, 1.48.598, 14. Jolyon Palmer, Renault, 1.48.888, 15. Carlos Sainz, Toro Rosso, 1.49,038, 16. Pascal Wehrlein, Manor, 1.49,320
Qualifying 3
In Q3 it was Mercedes’ Nico Rsoberg to take pole position and will start from first place for tomorrow’s race. This marks Rosberg’s third pole position in succession. Max Verstappen in qualifying became the youngest driver in the history of the sport to start a race from the front row of the grid, qualifying in second place. Kimi Raikkonen qualified in third place, with his team mate, Sebastian Vettel qualifying in fourth. Daniel Ricciardo qualified in fifth place being beaten by Verstappen in qualifying for only the second time this season. The two Force India cars of Sergio Perez and Nico Hulkenberg qualified in sixth and seventh. Valtteri Bottas qualified in eighth place for Williams, with his team mate, Felipe Massa, starting in tenth place after making a mistake on his one and only run during qualifying. McLaren’s Jenson Button will start in ninth place.
- Nico Rosberg, Mercedes, 1.46.744, 2. Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing, 1.46.893, 3. Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari, 1.46.910, 4. Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari, 1.47.108, 5. Daniel Ricciardo, Red Bull Racing, 1.47.216, 6. Sergio Perez, Force India, 1.47.407, 7. Nico Hulkenberg, Force India, 1.47.543, 8. Valtteri Bottas, Williams, 1.47.612, 9. Jenson Button, McLaren, 1.48.114, 10. Felipe Massa, Williams, 1.48.263
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