Lewis Hamilton equals Michael Schumacher's pole record

Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) chose his weekend well to equal the pole record of Michael Schumacher en F1. The Briton established this performance on the legendary Spa-Francorchamps track in Belgium, where the German scored his first career victory 25 years ago, a year after his debut.

Hamilton largely dominated the competition this Saturday, setting a new track record in 1'42 "553 in ultra-soft tires, a rise that the Mercedes and Ferrari had not used in Q1. The three-time world champion will start tomorrow alongside his championship rival Sebastian Vettel (Ferrari).

The German, renewed by Scuderia Ferrari until 2020, waited for his very last attempt in Q3 to get onto the first row, 242 thousandths behind the driver of the W08 no. 44. Valtteri Bottas (Mercedes) and Kimi Räikkönen (Ferrari), largely disturbed by vibration problems during the session, will start on the second row.

Renault in Q3 but...

Max Verstappen, last driver under the second and Daniel Ricciardo (Red Bull) allow the team to Milton Keynes to secure the third row, but the two red bull cars seem a step below the Mercedes and Ferraris.

Nico Hulkenberg (Renault) qualified seventh ahead of Sergio Pérez and Esteban Ocon (Force India). A good performance for the team at Losange, somewhat tarnished by the concerns of Jolyon Palmer (Renault). The Briton was unable to set a time after reaching Q3 following an oil pressure problem on his gearbox.

Fernando Alonso (McLaren) fails just outside the top 10 in eleventh position. The Spaniard tried to benefit from the slipstream of his teammate Stoffel Vandoorne on his final lap, before experiencing a loss of power on his Honda Power Unit V6 turbo/hybrid. Enough to greatly anger the double world champion.

Both Haas de Romain Grosjean et Kevin Magnussen follow in the ranking ahead of Toro Rosso de Carlos Sainz and Vandoorne’s McLaren. The latter, however, will start last after a cumulative penalty of 65 places on the grid.

Disappointment in the clan Williams, since Felipe Massa, 16th and penalized five places for yellow flag infringement in EL3, and Lance stroll, 18th and slowed down by a technical problem on his FW40, did not make it through to Q1. Daniil Kvyat (Toro Rosso) set the 17th fastest time, while Marcus Ericsson and Pascal Wehrlein (Sauber) brought up the rear, also penalized by five places, following a gearbox change.

The Belgian Grand Prix will start tomorrow at 14 p.m. and can be followed live via our live-text on our website.

Ranking Qualifications