Rosberg has won pole for the Belgian GP 2016 on a sunny qualifying afternoon session today. The Mercedes driver will start alongside Verstappen who claimed second in front of a huge pro-Verstappen crowd that travelled from far and beyond to support the young driver. Raikkonen claimed the final spot on the podium thanks to his last minute attempt during Q3 which saw Ricciardo drop from third to fifth, Vettel placed the other Ferrari in fourth.

This is the 28th career pole for Rosberg.

Belgian GP 2016 Qualifying Results

1. Nico Rosberg – Mercedes
2. Max Verstappen – Red Bull
3. Kimi Raikkonen – Ferrari
4. Sebastian Vettel – Ferrari
5. Daniel Ricciardo – Red Bull
6. Sergio Perez – Force India
7. Nico Hulkenberg – Force India
8. Valtteri Bottas – Williams
9. Jenson Button – McLaren/Honda
10. Felipe Massa – Williams

Hamilton and Alonso will both start from the back tomorrow. During practice, Alonso changed an engine while the Brit changed several components of his power units including his seventh turbocharger and MGU-H of the season.

The Belgian GP was first held in 1925 and has taken place for a record 71 times. It also served as the European Grand Prix six times between 1925 and 1973. Michael Schumacher has the most Belgian GP wins at six followed closely by Ayrton Senna with five wins. Ferrari is the most successful team at the Belgian GP with 16 wins, while McLaren comes second with 14 wins. Lotus is third with 8 wins, making two British teams in the top three.

Manors and Haas team were the first to head out in Q1 as the rest of the field remained pretty calm in the pits. The Manors were on mediums while Haas opted for supersofts. Rosberg then set a time of 1m48.019s to tale P1 while Nasr got his time deleted for exceeding track limits. Moments later Raikkonen beat Rosberg’s time but Vettel replied with an even faster 1m47.802s.

Kevin Magnussen was the next driver to get his time deleted after exceeding track limits at Raidillon. Verstappen and Ricciardo tied on 1m48.407s but it was the Dutch who was up as he set his time first. Due to the hot temperatures, Pirelli had pointed out that tire strategy – even for the main race – starts in Q1. The top eight were better off staying in the pits after their first runs.

Eliminated in Q1 were Nasr, Ocon, Kvyat, Ericsson, Hamilton and Alonso. Making through to Q2 were Massa, Vettel, Raikkonen, Rosberg, Hulkenberg, Perez, Verstappen, Ricciardo, Wehrlein, Bottas, Button, Gutierrez, Grosjean, Magnussen, Sainz and Palmer.

Q2 started with Wehrlein heading out first though he would later report, “it seems like my tyre is loose.” Meanwhile, Rosberg was out on the soft tire, he was followed by Vettel, Raikkonen and Ricciardo all on the same soft tire. As per the rules, the fastest lap in Q2 dictates the set of tires one will start with during the race, hence the reason most drivers were avoiding the supersoft rubber. Verstappen was on supersofts though.

Rosberg set the first time on 1m46.999s, Verstappen would later slot into second followed by Force India’s Hulkenberg and Perez. Raikkonen and Vettel were further back in fifth and sixth. The two Ferrari drivers went back out albeit on supersofts for the second attempt in Q2.

Eliminated in Q2 were Grosjean, Magnussen, Gutierrez, Palmer, Sainz and Wehrlein. The top ten comprised of Rosberg, Verstappen, Hulkenberg, Perez, Raikkonen, Massa, Bottas, Vettel, Ricciardo and Button – all making it to Q3.

Q3 action was on in no time and everyone was out immediately on supersoft tires, the best for this session. Massa and Button were the only drivers left in the pits. Bottas was the first man to set a time on 1m47.612s, a series of faster times followed with Perez up first, then Vettel and Verstappen. Eventually it was Rosberg’s 1m46.744s lap that topped the leaderboard.

When the chequered flag flew, Ricciardo managed to move up to third behind Verstappen and Rosberg. But Raikkonen split the two Red Bulls by moving into third, pushing Ricciardo into fourth.

The final order of Q3 was Rosberg, Verstappen, Raikkonen, Vettel, Ricciardo, Perez, Hulkenberg, Bottas, Button and Massa.

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