The sky has cleared, patially, over the circuit of Spa - Francorchamps as the Qualifying session starts.

Raikkonen is the first to clock a significant first lap, followed by Sebastian Vettel. Both Ferrari drivers starts their stints with yellow Soft and so does Hamilton.

Bottas and Hulkenberg are both on track, even if they will start the race, tomorrow, from the back of the grid, thanks to new Power Unit components. Plus, the Finn, who has finished FP1 in 2nd position, has earned a reprimand for his accident with Stoffel Vandoorne during FP3, which has caused the McLaren driver to hit the grass and loose his car, with a consequent red flag at the end of the session.

Max Verstappen puts himself 5th in Q1, but his team mate Daniel Ricciardo struggles to put together a good time, as he stays out of the Top 10 in 12th position in the first part of Q1; he then clocked the 7th fastest time.

Unable to access to Q2 after the first session are Carlos Sainz, Fernando Alonso, Sergey Sirotkin, Lance Stroll and Stoffel Vandoorne.


Q2 starts with a dry track; Raikkonen is the first to score the fastest time with a new track record of 1.41.627s. Hamilton splits both Ferraris, as Vettel does a mistake during his first fast lap. The top 3 drivers are all wearing red SuperSoft.

The record is broken again at the end of the session by Sebastian Vettel, who scores a clocked time of 1.41.501s.

Bottas goes out for his only attempt only at the end of the session with yellow Soft, putting himself in 4th position; this means he will start the race with used Soft tyres. Hulkenberg will have free tyres choices for the race.

Q2 sees then Vettel on top, followed by Raikkonen and Hamilton; the briton has a gap of 52 thousands.

Pierre Gasly, Brendon Hartley, Charles Leclerc, Marcus Ericsson and Nico Hulkenberg are out of the hunt for Pole Position, as the rain finally drops on the Belgian circuit.

All drivers are waiting in the pitlane for the green light, as the rain is light at the start of Q3, but the weather is always unpredictable in Spa.

Bottas is the first in line, followed by his team mate, maybe to help him with a slipstream game. Bottas goes wide before the pitlane entry, and Esteban Ocon and Sergio Perez are the only drivers to risk with sleek tyres, as the other drivers all come back to the garage.

Both Red Bull are out with Intermediates, but they still slide on track as the rain intensifies.

Raikkonen is the first Ferrari to go out with Intermediates; he scores a 2.02.671s, but it is difficult for everyone to keep the car straight on track.

Hamilton is behind both Red Bull as Vettel scores the fastest time of 2.02.446s when the conditions are getting better. Hamilton spuns out and shortly comes back on track, as Kimi Raikkonen pits when there are only 2 minutes left on the clock. The sessions is then over for the Finn, as he ran out of fuel.

Vettel aborts his lap, as he score another fast time of 2.01.188s, and goes for his last attempt.

The track gets better, Hamilton taks chequered flag with 1.58.179s; Vettel only gets a 1.58.905s while Raikkonen shifts in 6th position. Lewis Hamlton has luck on his side again, as he conquers his 5th Pole on this circuit.  

Great performance by Esteban Ocon too, who, in this particular moment for his team and his career, takes the 3rd place on the grid.

Here's the complete results from the Qualifying session: