Belgian GP: Qualifying – Vettel Snatches Pole from Hamilton

Q1: The session gets lively from the start, with Michael Schumacher suffering a violent crash after his right rear wheel inexplicably detached. It’s a hard blow for the German, who is celebrating 20 years of Formula 1 racing this weekend. All the more so as, on a wet track, the seven-time world champion is holding his own. Lap times improve lap after lap on the wet track. After a few minutes, radio communications report rain expected in the coming minutes. Midway through the session, neither the HRT nor the Virgin drivers are qualified, especially as the top-team drivers continue to improve their times. The two McLaren drivers are attacking and setting the best times one after the other, while Bruno Senna positions himself ahead of Vitaly Petrov. A great battle at the end sees the Team Lotus drivers against Paul di Resta, who is finally eliminated by Heikki Kovalainen who qualifies by a hair. Three drivers finish beyond the 107% mark, the two HRT drivers and Jérôme d’Ambrosio.

Eliminated from Q1: di Resta, Trulli, Glock, d’Ambrosio, Liuzzi, Ricciardo, Schumacher.

Q2: The beginning of Q2 starts under the rain that began in Q1 but quickly stops. The drivers have to start on intermediates while waiting for the track to dry. The two Toro Rosso drivers set the first times before Rubens Barrichello slots between them. Soon, the two Red Bull and McLaren drivers take the lead over the other drivers. Adrian Sutil is forced to abandon after making a mistake by exiting the raidillon too quickly, hitting the curbs and crashing into the wall. The Force India driver destroys the nose of his car and apparently the left rear suspension, causing a red flag. The session resumes after a 6-minute interruption, and many drivers push hard again, like Fernando Alonso, who was eliminated. The two Toro Rosso drivers attack very hard and climb to the top of the track, while Fernando Alonso takes first place. The other drivers continue to attack, and Sebastian Vettel takes 3 full seconds from Fernando Alonso one minute later. Lewis Hamilton then sets the best time in traffic. The Spaniard from Ferrari is 11th at the time of the checkered flag and starts a new lap as a yellow flag is shown. But the double world champion then sets the fastest time. The big loser of this session is Jenson Button, who returned too early to the pits and could not take advantage of the nearly dry conditions, unlike his opponents who relegated him to 13th place. Another stroke of typical misfortune at Spa for Jenson Button. Lewis Hamilton and Pastor Maldonado have a small collision at the exit of la source, with the Venezuelan driver giving a little sly flick of the wheel to the Briton, causing slight damage to the car.

Eliminated from Q2: Buemi, Kobayashi, Button, Barrichello, Sutil, Maldonado, Kovalainen.

Q3: Several drivers start with soft tires, as a very fine dry line has appeared. Felipe Massa makes a first off-track excursion with his slick tires. This is the first possible use of DRS during this qualifying session, which lowers the times in addition to the dry tires. Mark Webber is the first driver to go under the 1:54 mark ahead of Felipe Massa and Fernando Alonso, while Sebastian Vettel attacks strongly in the first sector. Sergio Perez then takes the best time temporarily before Mark Webber regains the upper hand with 1:50.875, 4 tenths ahead of Sebastian Vettel and Lewis Hamilton.

Fierce battle between the Red Bull drivers and Lewis Hamilton, with the German gaining the advantage over the two men while Jaime Alguersuari takes 4th place ahead of Nico Rosberg.

Lewis Hamilton then takes the pole for a few seconds before Sebastian Vettel snatches it away in the final moments by improving the time by half a second compared to the Briton. Both drivers are ahead of Mark Webber and Felipe Massa, while Fernando Alonso will start only from 8th place. Bruno Senna, in his first qualifying session in the R31, is well ahead of his teammate.

Results of the 2011 Belgian Grand Prix qualifying session