Belgium qualifying analysis

Qualifying Analysis

The unlucky few

The rain was stop start during qualifying this morning with only Q2 being completely dry. But the rain offered up some great excitement for qualifying and sets us up for a great race on Sunday.

Before any driver could set a lap time Renault’s Vitaly Petrov made what Martin Brundle described as a “rookie mistake,” when he hit the paintwork when it was still wet. He skided off ending his race and meaning he will start in last place in tommorows race.

The opportunities

It also was not a good qualifying for the Sauber team who were just starting to up there game. Both drivers spun out simultaneously when making the choice to change to slick tyres. This gave the lower teams a rare opportunity to get a car into Q2 which is exactly what Lotus’ Heikki Kovalainen and Virgin’s Timo Glock did securing 14^th and 15^th. A further bit of luck came for the smaller teams after both the Mercedes drivers did not manage to make it into Q3. Nico Rosberg was hit with a grid penalty for changing his gearbox and Michael Schumacher lost 10 spots due to his now infamous move on Rubens Barrichello. These penalties mean that Jarno Trulli will start in 17^th.

The battle at the top

At the top the grid it was all seeming to be going Lewis Hamilton’s way who was hitting in fast lap after fast lap especially in Q2 but when it came down to Q3 Webber managed to storm into pole taking the teams 12^th pole position this season only 0.09 seconds ahead of Hamilton in second place.

Robert Kubica offered up another strong performance securing a place on the second row in 3^rd alongside Sebastian Vettel in 4th. Button did not seem to find the balance that Hamilton did and had to settle for 5^th position.

The prospects of tomorrow’s race are looking to be brilliant. I would bet a lot of money on Hamilton trying a move on Mark Webber before Eau Rouge or at least on it. Then add the rain into the mix and we have quite an exciting weekend ahead of us.

The top 10 line up like this for tomorrow:

1.Mark Webber – RBR Renault

2.Lewis Hamilton – McLaren Mercedes

3.Robert Kubica – Renault

4.Sebastian Vettel – RBR Renault

5.Jenson Button – McLaren Mercedes

6.Felipe Massa – Ferrari

7.Rubens Barrichello  - Williams Cosworth

8.Adrian Sutil – Force India Mercedes

9.Nico Hulkenburg – Williams Cosworth

10.Fernando Alonso – Ferrari

Posted by Sean Russell - Follow him on twitter @SeanRussellF1.

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• Who has the best chance and experience in the rain at Spa? and can Webber hold on at the start?
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