Lewis Hamilton will start the Belgian Grand Prix from pole position after blitzing the field in the third phase of qualifying at Spa-Francorchamps, but will have title rival
Felipe Massa alongside him on Sunday.
The Briton was fastest after the first round of flying laps on the picturesque Ardennes circuit, but knew he had to respond after Massa improved his earlier benchmark by three tenths on his second run. Hamilton, running second on the road behind the Brazilian, was on a pr with the
Ferrari through sector one, but capitalised on a minor mistake by his rival in the second part of the lap, and eventually crossed the line 0.340secs ahead.
The second row will be a mirror image of the front as
Heikki Kovalainen pulled out enough time to split the two Ferraris in third, while
Nick Heidfeld rounded out the top five.
Sebastien Bourdais appeared briefly to have got the better of the second
BMW Sauber of
Robert Kubica, but the Pole's late improvement elevated him into eighth, behind
Fernando Alonso and
Mark Webber, while the two Toro Rossos fill out row five.
Full report and times to follow...
