Lewis Hamilton has stated that McLaren-Mercedes knew it needed to raise its game in the wake of two consecutive races in which arch-rivals
Ferrari had yielded the upper hand and in storming to pole position for this weekend's Belgian Grand Prix at Spa-Francorchamps, he showed that the team has been every bit as good as its word.
Whilst the scarlet machines were expected to once again rule the roost around the challenging and popular Ardennes circuit, it was the Silver Arrows who emerged ahead in the opening two phases of qualifying, though it was
Heikki Kovalainen who had the measure of his
Formula 1 world championship-leading team-mate in both Q1 and Q2.
Hamilton, though as is so often the case was right on-form when it mattered most, as he blitzed the field on his very last lap in Q3, accepting the gauntlet thrown down to him by Ferrari title rival
Felipe Massa and lowering the Brazilian's marker by more than three tenths of a second to put pole position beyond reach and firmly stake his claim to regain momentum in the chase for the crown.
I'm really happy about my pole position, the 23-year-old enthused afterwards. We've got a great car, and the atmosphere within the team at home in Woking and here at the circuit is fantastic.
After Valencia we knew we had to improve and that's what we did. Today's outcome is also a result of this great preparation, and I felt very comfortable when we came here.
At first, I decided to drive with the harder compound, but obviously the option tyre was the better one. Today I gave it my all and so did the team. At the beginning of my first lap, I locked up my right front wheel for a moment, but afterwards I didn't make any mistakes. I'm confident for tomorrow's race.
