Coming back firing after Formula One’s summer break was the aim for Lewis Hamilton and with two superlative laps to own pole position, he was clearly on target. Although characteristically for the driver, who said on Friday that he had no problem living his life to the full in the public eye, he did it soon after drawing some volume of negative attention.
At a circuit that rewards drivers who are able to push to the limit but also nail inch-perfect lines at very high speeds, Hamilton gave a masterclass. The two laps that really counted could not be matched by Nico Rosberg, who finished 0.458sec back from the British driver, who leads the world championship by 21 points from his Mercedes team-mate.
Hamilton’s performance in qualifying has been superlative of late. He has now been on the front row for 19 consecutive races and this, his 10th pole of the season (the sixth in a row, to Rosberg’s one in 2015), has secured him the Pole Position Trophy with eight races to go. “The last two laps were the best two I have had all weekend”, he said. “I don’t remember as good a year as this in terms of qualifying. I want to convert more poles to wins, that’s my goal now.”
Rosberg who outqualified Hamilton seven to three in the last 10 races of 2014 has repeatedly said he has shifted his focus to improving his race pace this season but equally has admitted he cannot explain why he cannot match Hamilton in qualifying this year. Here, again, happy with the balance of his car, there were no excuses but also no answer. “Lewis was too quick in the end,” he said. “Just found that little bit, or quite a lot extra, which I didn’t have in my pocket. That’s it, so of course it’s disappointing.”
There was some disappointment, however, for Hamilton fans, some of whom did not take well to the short video posted on his Instagram account on Friday, the same day a gunman was overpowered after injuring two passengers on a train to Paris. The video showed the driver firing an automatic weapon on a range, in Colorado during his summer break. With the hashtag #shooter attached it had attracted 33,900 likes, but also considerable criticism. Comments included: “Disappointed that you promote such stupidity”; “Dont like guns!! Dont like this! Go racing!! Disappointing & Unnecessary Lewis”, and “I’d rather you targeted first place mate.”
Clearly some had an issue with his position as a role model and Hamilton took the post down on Saturday afternoon. “There never is any good comments on there to be honest, so it doesn’t really matter,” he said, referring to the internet, before stating that he had not put the video up. “I didn’t post it. I don’t post anything on race weekends, a friend does it for me,” he added.
On track, where it mattered, he had nailed it in the twisty parts of the middle sector. On his first quick run in the final session his time of 1.47.449 was three tenths up on his team-mate and on the last run Hamilton just got better and Rosberg had no answer, again the second sector had been key.
After poor starts in the last two rounds, a clean getaway here will be the first task for the Mercedes drivers. Hamilton was confident the issues had been investigated and rectified but he, as with the rest of the grid, will also have to deal with the new start procedures being employed for the first time on Sunday.
Radio communication on formation and reconnaissance laps has been banned unless it involves safety issues and, crucially, engineers can no longer have the driver adjust the clutch bite point after the car has left the garage. The drivers have played down the chance of the changes making a major difference to the start, but there is still the chance of a good mix-up into La Source.
With fast corners and high loads, tyre wear and strategy will also be key. A two-stopper is the most likely option but with the power advantage Mercedes hold being rewarded here, that will likely become a question of what calls the drivers make.
If Hamilton can hold the lead into turn five, the clean air advantage and pit priority may be just enough to enable him to keep it until the flag.
The sheer pace on this magnificent circuit that Mercedes has was once again demonstrated in that the Williams of Valtteri Bottas in third was almost a second back from the front row. Romain Grosjean was in fourth but will take a five-place penalty, while the Force India of Sergio Pérez was in fifth. Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo was sixth, Felipe Massa in seventh, Pastor Maldonado in eighth, Sebastian Vettel managed only ninth, with Carlos Sainz Jr in the Toro Rosso rounding out the top 10.
The pole for the British driver is a good marker as the season resumes, but not quite so important at a circuit where opportunities for overtaking manoeuvres are high. The race has been won only five times since 2000 from pole.
Indeed, Hamilton will be more than aware that he jumped Rosberg through La Source from the start line last year, giving him the lead and provoking his team-mate’s ill-timed attempt to pass going into Les Combes. The damage resulting from the clash ultimately forced the British driver’s retirement.
“I am very conscious that pole position is a great thing to have, but the race is a long way and its a long stretch down to turn five,” Hamilton acknowledged.
Jenson Button and Fernando Alonso took a combined 55-place grid penalty before the weekend had even begun as Honda brought a full set of upgraded engines and components to Spa. Indeed, having taken these hits, and with the additional race penalties now abolished, the team made the best of the loophole and went on to fit another new engine and ERS components to both cars on Saturday, taking the penalty total to a record 105 places. That means they have one barely used power unit in play that can be fitted in the future without incurring new-engine penalties.
The McLaren pair will start at the back of the grid, but in any case only qualified in 17th and 18th respectively. The push here was to improve performance rather than reliability but there was no sign of any real progress, with the Sauber of Felipe Nasr in 16th almost a full second clear of the pair. They were 2.7 seconds off the pole time at Silverstone, and 2.5 seconds at the last round in Hungary, a marginal forward momentum that was not repeated here. Even with a new power unit, the gap to Hamilton was an unedifying 3.7 seconds.
On the long straights of Spa, where power is key, the car still appears to be lacking in its ability to make the most of its energy recovery systems.
“There is more power with the engine but we’re still a long way off,” said Button. “We have a long way to go before we feel happy with the package that we have.”
Rosberg suffered a catastrophic tyre failure during the second practice session on Friday, and was lucky to emerge unscathed after it disintegrated on the approach to Blanchimont at 190mph. Pirelli investigated the incident and declared on Saturday morning that there were no signs of structural integrity issues with the tyre, and that the video footage was consistent with an external cut. “The problem is we don’t really understand it,” said Rosberg. “There’s theories but no real evidence. So that’s worrying for sure. We are keeping an eye on it to make sure it doesn’t happen again. We’ve just got to hope it all stays together.”
However, at a drivers’ briefing on Friday evening, the issue was raised by both Hamilton and Alonso, with the former questioning whether the FIA was going to consider a new tyre supplier. Pirelli’s deal is due to end in 2016 and Michelin are looking to bid for the 2107 contract. Pirelli were defended by the race director Charlie Whiting, who noted that the company had not had a similar failure since 2013. That year they altered the construction after a series of blowouts, not least at the British Grand Prix, where five failures occurred.
Kimi Raikkonen, who on Wednesday signed a new contract with Ferrari for 2016, came to a halt on the way into Stavelot, suffering from what appeared to be a gearbox failure during Q2. He will start from 14th.
Toro Rosso’s Max Verstappen, who took a 10-place penalty for using a new engine and to save it chose not to run in Q2, will start ahead of only the McLarens at the back. Force India’s Nico Hülkenberg, Red Bull’s Daniil Kvyat and Sauber’s Marcus Ericsson completed the drivers out in Q2.
The two Manor cars of Will Stevens and Roberto Merhi were knocked out in Q1 but, due to the penalties for cars in front of them, will start in 16th and 17th.
Final qualifying positions, Belgian F1 Grand Prix, 1pm BST Sunday 23 August
1 Lewis Hamilton (GB) Mercedes 1min 47.197secs, 2 Nico Rosberg (Ger) Mercedes 1:47.655, 3 Valtteri Bottas (Fin) Williams 1:48.537, 4 Romain Grosjean (Fr) Lotus 1:48.561, 5 Sergio Peréz (Mex) Force India 1:48.599, 6 Daniel Ricciardo (Aus) Red Bull 1:48.639, 7 Felipe Massa (Bra) Williams 1:48.685, 8 Pastor Maldonado (Ven) Lotus 1:48.754, 9 Sebastian Vettel (Ger) Ferrari 1:48.825, 10 Carlos Sainz (Sp) Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:49.771, 11 Nico Hülkenberg (Ger) Force India 1:49.121, 12 Daniil Kvyat (Rus) Red Bull 1:49.228, 13 Marcus Ericsson (Swe) Sauber-Ferrari 1:49.586, 14 Kimi Raikkonen (Fin) Ferrari, 15 Max Verstappen (Neth) Scuderia Toro Rosso, 16 Felipe Nasr (Br) Sauber-Ferrari 1:49.952, 17 Jenson Button (GB) McLaren 1:50.978, 18 Fernando Alonso (Sp) McLaren 1:51.420, 19 Will Stevens (GB) Manor Marussia 1:52.948, 20 Roberto Merhi (Sp) Manor Marussia 1:53.099
Note: Fernando Alonso has a 30-place grid penalty for exceeding the allowable number of power units to be used in a season and will start 20th, Jenson Button has a 25-place grid penalty for exceeding the allowable number of power units to be used in a season and will start 19th, Romain Grosjean has a five-place grid penalty for an unscheduled gearbox change and will start ninth and Max Verstappen has a 10-place grid penalty for using his sixth engine of the season and will start 18th.
