Lewis Hamilton takes pole in a mixed up Spa qualifying - The rain hits two out of three of the qualifying session
Published by Christine
The rain fell about ten minutes before qualifying was due to begin, and it was intermediate tyres all round - except for the Marussia and Caterham team who opted to risk going out on slicks. The decision allowed Jules Bianchi, Max Chilton and Giedo van der Garde to progress to Q2, although they didn’t get an awful lot further.
There was a similar strategy call to be made once the third session began, as drivers headed out early to squeeze in a lap before the rain returned but didn’t quite make it in time. Paul di Resta had banked on intermediates being the tyre of choice and got his banker lap in early, leaving him top of the times for most of the session.
However, as the rest filed out on their green-striped tyres, the track started to dry again and got even faster. Order was restored with Lewis Hamilton snatching pole position ahead of Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber. The two closest championship rivals of Kimi Räikkönen and Fernando Alonso were left floundering in eighth and ninth. Di Resta ended up fifth, still a great position for Force India.
