On top of the pile: Lewis Hamilton continued from where he left off after the mid-season break, nailiong his fourth consecutive pole. Photo: AP
Lewis Hamilton has claimed his fourth successive pole position in the final throes of an utterly dramatic helter-skelter qualifying session at Spa.
The Mercedes driver will line up ahead of World Championship leader Sebastian Vettel and the second Red Bull of Mark Webber, with Nico Rosberg fourth and Force India’s Paul di Resta fifth, but such a mundane summary of events barely hints at the astonishing drama thrown up by the ever-changing conditions during a remarkable top-ten shoot-out.
For a long while it appeared as if di Resta was set to claim the most unlikely of pole positions – the first of his F1 career – after an inspired gamble at the start of a wet Qualifying Three appeared poised to pay maximum dividends for the Scot.
While the rest of the field erred by bolting out of the pitlane on slick tyres, Di Resta bided his time before sneaking out on intermediates to set a lap of 2:02.332 that proved unbeatable until the very final stages as the track finally began to dry again.
First Rosberg, then Webber, Vettel and finally Hamilton bettered Di Resta’s time as the Scot looked on forlornly from the Force India garage after they pitted him just as the conditions improved.
Critically, Hamilton was the final man over the line as the session reached its remarkable conclusion, with Vettel edged out by the small but ultra-significant matter of two tenths of a second.
“I was just so surprised when I came across the line. When I started the lap, it looked on the screen that I was about seventh or eighth and I was like, ‘Oh my god’, especially as it was raining more,” said the Mercedes driver. – PG
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