Formula One news

Hamilton storms to Belgian pole

Lewis Hamilton stormed to pole position for tomorrow's Belgian Grand Prix with a stunning performance in the final part of qualifying. The McLaren driver will start ahead of Felipe Massa, Heikki Kovalainen and Kimi Raikkonen in fourth.

Qualifying got underway in cool but dry conditions with air and track temperature both around 18C. With Kovalainen setting the early pace in Q1, it was actually Bourdais who surprised with the fastest lap at the end of the first qualifying session ahead of Kovlainen, Massa, Hamilton, Raikkonen and Piquet. It was a bad day for Honda as both Barrichello and Button dropped out of Q1 along with Sutil, Nakajima and Fisichella.

Kovalainen and Hamilton led Raikkonen, Heidfeld and Massa in Q2 and despite a final dash to the flag Trulli, Piquet, Glock, Coulthard and Rosberg were all eliminated.

In the pole shootout McLaren put down the early marker with Hamilton and Kovalainen first and second, but Ferrari responded and Felipe Massa fought back to take provisional pole on his final flying lap. Hamilton, however was on track and going even faster to snatch pole back by 0.3s, stopping the clock in 1m47.338s.

Kovalainen took third in the final moments to push Raikkonen down to fourth and split the two Ferraris. Nick Heidfeld's final lap took him up to fifth ahead of Fernando Alonso, Mark Webber, Kubica and the two Toro Rossos of Bourdais and Vettel.

more news

• 03 Dec.
  • Alonso talks up 2009 chances
• 02 Dec.
  • An interview with Kazuki Nakajima
  • McLaren to present 2009 contender January 16th
  • Hockenheim hanging in the balance
  • BMW tempering 2009 title talk
• 01 Dec.
  • Renault thrills 100,000 fans on the streets of Sao Paulo
  • Briatore targets championship title in 2009
  • 'Grosjean not ready for F1 yet'
  • Nicolas Prost eyes F1 test after winning F3000 championship
  • Photos: Piquet demo at Sao Paulo
  • Photos: Desafio Internacional das Estrelas 2008
• 30 Nov.
  • Barrichello wins Massa kart race
  • Di Resta happy to start in midfield team
• 29 Nov.
  • Fisichella insists seat is safe
  • Middle East circuits to work together
• 28 Nov.
  • Photos: Construction at Abu Dhabi
  • Tiago Monteiro confirms the acquisition of GP2 team
  • Button says Honda wins possible in 2009
• 27 Nov.
  • BMW set for Valencia launch
  • Donington Grand Prix: No cars please!
  • Webber expects to test in February
  • Opportunity to race with Michael Schumacher?
  • Hartley stands in for Webber
  • Italian F3 drivers enjoy F1 debut at Ferrari
  • Photos: Wednesday in Fiorano
  • Jordan blasts medal plans
• 26 Nov.
  • Ecclestone aiming for medals in 2009
  • LG signs as F1 global sponsor
  • Sir Frank Williams endorses karting for the disabled
  • Toyota to unveil TF109 15 January
  • Santander to switch from McLaren to Ferrari
  • Montoya 'has turned down F1 offers'
• 25 Nov.
  • Red Bull buys back Toro Rosso stake
  • Rosberg aims for better season next year
  • Barrichello admits Ferrari team orders
  • Australian Grand Prix expects Webber at the grid
  • Villeneuve fastest in Speedcar test
  • Coulthard becomes a father
• 24 Nov.
  • Coulthard and Jordan join BBC
  • Vettel: "Webber will be missed"

Homepage