Hamilton has won the 2017 Belgian GP qualifying and now equals Michael Schumacher in the all time high of 68 pole wins.
2017 Belgian GP Qualifying Results
1. Hamilton – Mercedes
2. Vettel – Ferrari
3. Bottas – Mercedes
4. Raikkonen – Ferrari
5. Verstappen – Red Bull
6. Ricciardo – Red Bull
7. Hulkenberg – Renault
8. Perez – Force India
9. Ocon – Force India
10. Palmer – Renault
The Belgian GP 2017 qualifying got underway with Mercedes cars out first, the order after the first runs was Hamilton, Vettel, Verstappen, Raikkonen, Bottas, Ricciardo, Ocon, Palmer, Perez and Vandoorne. Everyone was on ultrasofts besides Mercedes and Ferrari who were on supersofts.
With the first #Q1 runs complete, the supersoft is fastest, courtesy of @lewishamilton. He’s 0.091s faster than #Seb5: nothing between them.
— Pirelli Motorsport (@pirellisport) August 26, 2017
Proceeding into Q2 were Hamilton, Vettel, Verstappen, Raikkonen, Bottas, Ricciardo, Ocon, Hulkenberg, Sainz, Vandoorne, Palmer, Magnussen, Perez, Alonso and Grosjean.
Eliminated after Q1 were Massa, Kvyat, Stroll, Ericsson and Wehrlein.
Bulls through to Q2 👊 Max is in P3 with a 1:44.535 and Daniel in P6 with a 1:45.114 #BelgianGP 🇧🇪 pic.twitter.com/bYVoby6XKf
— Red Bull Racing (@redbullracing) August 26, 2017
Hamilton headed Q2 session and this time on ultrasofts, Bottas, Raikkonen and Vettel followed with the same set of tires. A 1m43.539s lap by Hamilton put him first, with Raikkonen and Bottas coming in second and third. Verstappen slotted in between Bottas and Vettel. Meanwhile, Hulkenberg was reporting a faulty rear on his Renault.
As for Hamilton, his provisional P1 lap in Q2 is the fastest one of Spa!
A cheeky stop at the weigh-bridge for #LH44… andddd he's back in the box!
P1 with a new fastest ever lap of Spa! 😮#BelgianGP 🇧🇪 #Quali pic.twitter.com/uZLVFMzKcW
— Mercedes-AMG F1 (@MercedesAMGF1) August 26, 2017
Even better for Hamilton, his second Q2 run yielded a quicker 1m42.927s. Proceeding into Q3 were Hamilton, Bottas, Raikkonen, Verstappen, Vettel, Ricciardo, Palmer, Perez, Hulkenberg and Ocon. Out in Q2 were Alonso, Grosjean, Magnussen, Sainz and Vandoorne who had no time.
Alonso was frustrated with his run and shouted “no power” as he went across the line.
Hamilton and Raikkonen were the first to head out in Q3. The Brit needed to win pole here in order to match the all time record by Michael Schumacher of 68 poles. While Hamilton complained about vibrations, Palmer stopped his Renault with smoke coming from the back. Verstappen later reported seeing oil at Turn 12, most likely from Palmer’s car.
"We lost gearbox oil pressure"
PAL out of Q3#Quali #BelgianGP 🇧🇪 #F1 pic.twitter.com/2v62btmJFT
— Formula 1 (@F1) August 26, 2017
Hamilton and Raikkonen were first and second after the first runs, and the Mercedes were back out again for the final runs. A 1m42.553s by Hamilton put him in provisional P1, with Bottas coming in second. Vettel then split the Mercedes cars by taking P2, Raikkonen suffered some vibrations and only managed fourth.
