Kimi Raikkonen has edged pole position for the Belgian Grand Prix, the Finn leading only the second all-Ferrari front row of the season at Spa-Francorchamps.
A typically close session between the leading title protagonists, less than a tenth separated the top three of Raikkonen,
Felipe Massa and Fernando Alonso, with championship leader
Lewis Hamilton down in fourth place, almost half a second behind pole position.
Raikkonen's third pole position of the season, it came as the pendulum swung between all four drivers over the course of the qualifying session. Indeed, even on the final lap the advantages switched between the drivers over the course of the lengthy Ardennes circuit as they sought to strike a balance between the high-speed first and third sectors and the twistier second sector.
In the end though Raikkonen was able to hold it together for the ideal lap, the Finn almost three tenths faster than Massa in the first sector, before the Brazilian pulled it all back in the second sector. The crucial third and final sector however went Raikkonen's way, helping him edge his team-mate by a mere 17 hundredths of a second.
McLaren by contrast were made to look rather pressured, not least Alonso, whose otherwise impressive final lap actually came after he ruined his first attempt with a spin into the Rivage hairpin, the Spaniard losing it over the bump and enjoying a quick pirouette before progressing.
Hamilton on the other hand was rarely in the reckoning for pole position, the Brit comfortably behind Ferrari, especially in the final minutes, before then being pushed down to fourth, his lowest grid position – Nurburgring excluded – since the Spanish Grand Prix.
Behind the top four,
Robert Kubica defied his engine penalty to pump in a lap good enough to place him fifth provisionally, although that will become 15th when the grid is eventually classified.
As such, those directly behind move up a place, including Nico Rosberg, the German qualifying inside the top five for the second time this season in his Williams. His lap was enough to keep
Nick Heidfeld in an effective sixth place.
Mark Webber returned
Red Bull Racing to the top ten, but only after a blunder in the second qualifying phase meant he didn't get around the circuit in time to set his final lap, the Australian lucky those behind were not able to improve and push him down the order.
