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The Independent UK

Sport

Jack Watson

Belgian Grand Prix 2018: Sebastian Vettel wins to close gap on Lewis Hamilton - as it happened

Lewis Hamilton starts the Belgian Grand Prix from pole position after yet another wet-weather masterclass in qualifying.

As the rain swept in over the Spa-Francorchamps Circuit, Hamilton took advantage of the tricky conditions to finish comfortably clear of title rival Sebastian Vettel. Frenchman Esteban Ocon will line up in a shock third place for Force India ahead of his team-mate Sergio Perez.

Vettel, who trails Hamilton by 24 points in the driver's championship, was the strong favourite to take pole with Ferrari holding the advantage over Mercedes in the dry. But as the rain arrived in the seconds before the top-10 shootout, it was Hamilton who took the spoils to finish a mighty seven tenths clear of the German.

We will have all the latest updates from Belgium:

Live Updates

11:31

Good morning and welcome to our live coverage of the 2018 Belgian Grand Prix.

Lewis Hamilton will start from pole position with title rival Sebastian Vettel just a place behind him ahead of what promises to be a thrilling race at Spa-Francorchamps.

We will have all the latest build-up for you right here so don't touch that dial.

12:20

Story of qualifying

Lewis Hamilton took a record fifth pole in qualifying at Spa, but it was anything but easy going in a rain-hit session.

Esteban Ocon and Sergio Perez line up third and fourth for Force India as Kimi Raikkonen and the Red Bulls struggled for pace.

Read about the dramatic end to qualifying which had more twists and turns than the track itself.

Lewis Hamilton beats Sebastian Vettel to Spa pole with latest wet-weather masterclass

12:26

Last year

Lewis Hamilton started his charge on Sebastian Vettel's Championship lead when he won here last year. It was not a routine win from pole with his race interrupted by what he described as: "a BS call from the stewards."

Esteban Ocon and Sergio Perez, who start third and fourth this afternoon, faced recrimination for colliding on lap 28 in what was not their first collision of the season.

12:41

Who said what

The divers have their say on yesterday's qualifying session.

Lewis Hamilton - qualified 1st: "It was one of the toughest qualifying sessions I can remember."

"We were very close. I was hopeful. Ferrari were very quick on the straights, then the rain came and I can't stress how difficult it was.

"The track looked dry in some places, but it was actually wet. It was so hard, I went off twice, but so glad I managed to keep it together. Everyone is on the edge of their seats."

Sebastian Vettel - qualified 2nd: "I think we had the pace today for pole but we'll never find out."

"It was confusion. When all of a sudden it starts to rain like this, from a team point of view you have to manage two cars and Kimi was rushing to get back out and then in the end, now you look, it;s sunshine and it's nearly dry again.

"I didn't also know what to do, I had a bit of traffic, then I had the track drying up and I wanted to save a bit of tyres."

Esteban Ocon - qualified 3rd: "It's awesome to be in P3 after such a difficult time with the team we had.

"But now we are starting afresh and definitely happy with that result, third wasn't expected today. The job did a fantastic guys... the guys did a fantastic job! Sorry, it's the emotion."

Sergio Perez - qualified 4th: "So many emotions are going through my head -- it has been a really difficult session, which makes the result even sweeter," said the Mexican, who equalled the best grid position of his career.

"It's a great result for the team and for the new owners, the old ones who built the team to what it is now, and everyone who works so hard every day."

Kimi Raikkonen - qualified 6th: "In the end we only had fuel for one lap and we had to come in. This is what we have got and there's nothing we can do.

"It's just a matter of getting it right and being there when the track is faster. At the moment, it is difficult to find a positive side, but the race is normally a different story and we;ll see what happens."

12:45

What a throwback

How good did these Jordan cars look? At the time they seemed fairly ordinary, as I recall, but now look at them...they're so retro!

12:52

Look at that support

The Belgian-Dutch Max Verstappen certainly has plenty of backing in the stands this afternoon. He was left a little disappointed with his qualifying performance, but a few overtakes to get the fans going and who knows what might happen.

“Starting seventh is not what we wanted but it was a tricky situation out there today,” he said. “It stopped raining towards the end of our laps and the track dried a little bit but if we had stayed out and gone for another lap we would have run out of fuel.

“It’s frustrating as I’m sure we could have been closer to the front. With the unusual mix at the front it should be an interesting few laps."

12:56

Weather

Isn't it weird how a sport can be so influenced by the weather. Anyway, here's Renault's slightly less than state-of-the-art weather graphic of this afternoon's forecast. It looks like we could be without rain this afternoon, but as they say: it's Spa, anything can happen.

13:07

Force India

Esteban Ocon and Sergio Perez's third and fourth finish in qualifying gives Force India a bit of light relief from the tricky week they've had.

Here's all you need to know about the re-branded team.

Rebranded Racing Point Force India granted F1 entry by FIA

13:15

Lewis Hamilton vs Sebastian Vettel

So, we're back after the summer break so let's check in on the race for the Championship title. With nine races to go, Lewis Hamilton has a slight edge over his Ferrari rival, but it's very close as we head into the back end of the calendar with some even races still to come.

Via GentingBet

13:22

Wolff on Mercedes advantage and Ocon's future

Toto Wolff, which is the coolest name ever - sorry I have to say that every time, explains that Mercedes have been good in the middle sector and provides an update on Esteban Ocon's future.

"We might have an advantage the middle sector which is very twisty we have been quick there," he said the director of Mercedes.

On Esteban Ocon, who he manages, he said: He's not going to be kicked out of F1 we had a deal, or maybe we did, with Renault but things changed and they had to go for (Daniel) Ricciardo and now it's about scanning the market and there's a few teams interested, he will be in Formula 1 next year."

13:33

Drivers' Track Parade