McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton snatched back pole position for the Belgian Grand Prix from Ferrari’s Felipe Massa on their final runs of the third qualifying session. The Englishman had been fastest after the first runs, saw Massa beat his time, but then finished his own lap three tenths quicker to settle the issue.
Hamilton clinched top spot on the grid with a lap of one minute 47.338 seconds for his fifth pole of the year, with Massa on the front row, but over 0.3secs down.
On a dry circuit it was all too easy for McLaren star Hamilton, who holds a six-point cushion in the drivers’ standings over Massa in his Ferrari.
Heikki Kovalainen will start third for McLaren, with Raikkonen fourth, the Finn out-qualified for the ninth time in 13 races by Ferrari team-mate Massa this season.
After clinching McLaren their 10th pole at Spa, Hamilton said: “Today has been a great day.
“I was happy with all three laps in qualifying. It’s always very satisfying when you go out, come in, and watch everybody else do their laps.
“Today the team made no mistakes, and I made no mistakes. I feel great.”
Behind the leading quartet comes Nick Heidfeld in his BMW Sauber, beating team-mate Robert Kubica for only the second time this year as the Pole will start eighth.
Fernando Alonso joins Heidfeld on the third row of the grid in sixth in his Renault, with Mark Webber seventh for Red Bull.
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