2013 Belgian Grand Prix: Hamilton pole for Mercedes

Lewis Hamilton has scored his fourth pole position in succession in a rain affected final qualifying for the Belgian Grand Prix in Spa-Francorchamps.

The F1 circus returns this week after its summer holidays, but it’s business as usual for Lewis Hamilton after a cracking lap in final qualifying saw him take pole position for tomorrow’s Belgian Grand Prix at Spa-Francorchamps.

For a while it looked like Force India’s Paul di Resta would score his first ever pole as he took to final qualifying with his car on intermediate tyres whilst all the rest started on dry tyres.

As the rain started to fall, di Resta put in a time that looked unbeatable as the rest of the final qualifiers struggled to put their power down.

But Lewis Hamilton mastered the conditions and took di Resta’s pole away and, as the rains started to ease and part of the track became rain free, others managed to improve their times.

Behind Hamilton it was Sebastian Vettel dropping his Red Bull in to second position, with team mate Mark Webber slotting in to third. Hamilton’s team mate, Nico Rosberg, managed to take fourth place and Paul di Resta managed to end up fifth for tomorrow’s race.

Jenson Button did a good job to take sixth spot – which was probably more to do with Jenson’s abilities in adverse conditions than any improvements from the McLaren – followed by the Lotus’s of Grosjean and Raikkonen in seventh and eighth, with the fifth row of the grid a dismal Ferrari outing with Alonso in ninth and Felipe Massa in tenth.

As for tomorrow’s race, Spa-Francorchamps’ own micro-climate means it could be bucketing down or glorious sunshine, so the grid could be turned on its head. And if it does rain, it would be worth a few bob on Jenson Button for a podium.