Jenson Button Takes First McLaren Pole For Belgian Grand Prix

Jenson Button will start tomorrow’s Belgian Grand Prix from pole-position, after clinching pole in a thrilling qualifying session around the Spa-Francorchamps circuit. In conditions starkly contrasted to yesterday, Button will line up alongside the Sauber of Kamui Kobayashi in what should be yet another enthralling Belgian Grand Prix.

The Marussia duo of Charles Pic of Timo Glock were the first two drivers to take the track once the session got underway, with Pic setting the initial pace with a 01:53.493. Nico Rosberg, who incurred a 5-place grid penalty prior to the qualifying session, then shot to the top with a 01:51.125 as the times quickly began to tumble. Paul di Resta and Sergio Perez then shared the top spot momentarily as the opening session progressed, with the majority of the drivers circulating on Pirelli’s P Zero hard tyre compound.

Championship leader Fernando Alonso then asserted authority over the proceedings, after ending the final practice session earlier in the morning fastest overall. Jenson Button then surprised many by going fastest, complaining of understeer only moments beforehand. Pastor Maldonado then incurred the wrath of the stewards once again, as they announced the Venezuelan driver was under investigation for allegedly blocking Nico Hulkenberg.

Many of the drivers then opted to switch to the medium tyre compound as the session entered it’s closing stages, as the Williams of Pastor Maldonado went fastest with a 01:48.993. Nico Rosberg’s woeful day continued as the session drew to a close, as the Toro Rosso of Daniel Ricciardo progressed to 6th and demoted the German to 18th and subsequently into the drop zone along with the usual suspects of the two Caterhams, Marussias and HRTs. This means the Mercedes driver will start on the last row of the grid for tomorrow’s race, once he takes his grid penalty.

Sergio Perez wasted no time in taking to the track once the second qualifying session got underway, whilst the McLaren mechanics frantically worked upon Jenson Button’s car, fixing some minor damage to the Briton’s rear-wing. Perez naturally set the initial pace with a 01:48.880, however Mark Webber then went top with a 01:48.662. The Ferrari of Fernando Alonso then continued to assert authority, however as the track rubbered in, the times quickly improved as the session progressed.

Lewis Hamilton then shot to the top of the timing sheets, with a 01:48.563 for the McLaren driver. However, Kimi Raikkonen immediately disposed of the 2008 World Champion as the Finn shot to the top with a 01:48.414. Jenson Button then continued to raise eyebrows amongst the paddock as the Briton stormed to the top with a blisteringly quick 01:47.654. This time looked unbeatable, as many drivers retook to the Spa-Francorchamps circuit to try guarantee themselves a spot in the all-important top ten shootout.

As Q2 came to a close, no-one was able to challenge Jenson Button’s illustrious time at the top. As the checkered flag fell, all eyes were on reigning World Champion Sebastian Vettel, who was amazingly unable to progress through to the top ten shootout and was eliminated along with Nico Hulkenberg, Michael Schumacher, Felipe Massa, Jean-Eric Vergne, Daniel Ricciardo and Bruno Senna.

The all-important top ten shootout had all the ingredients to be a thrilling spectacle around the legendary Spa-Francorchamps circuit, and the track action most certainly lived up to its expectations. Paul di Resta and Kimi Raikkonen were the first two drivers to take to the track, with the Finn setting the initial pace with a 01:48.205. However, Jenson Button continued his uncatchable momentum through to Q3 and set another sensational lap time with a 01:47.686.

As the session came to a highly entertaining conclusion, Jenson Button improved upon his time with a 01:47.573, as the Sauber of Kamui Kobayashi slotted neatly into 2nd position with 01:47.871. The other McLaren of Lewis Hamilton was unable to match his team-mate and ended the session a disappointing 8th.

With Jenson Button surrounded by former GP2 stars Kamui Kobayashi and Pastor Maldonado, tomorrow’s Belgian Grand Prix has all of the ingredients to be a literally stunning race with the possibility of fireworks as the field negotiates the La Source hairpin at the start. Jenson Button has never won around Spa-Francorchamps, and is perfectly poised to alter that stat during tomorrow’s 44-lap Belgian Grand Prix.

Pos  Driver              Car                   Time       Gap
 1.  Jenson Button       McLaren-Mercedes      1m47.573s
 2.  Kamui Kobayashi     Sauber-Ferrari        1m47.871s  + 0.298s
 3.  Pastor Maldonado    Williams-Renault      1m47.893s  + 0.320s
 4.  Kimi Raikkonen      Lotus-Renault         1m48.205s  + 0.632s
 5.  Sergio Perez        Sauber-Ferrari        1m48.219s  + 0.646s
 6.  Fernando Alonso     Ferrari               1m48.313s  + 0.740s
 7.  Mark Webber         Red Bull-Renault      1m48.392s  + 0.819s***
 8.  Lewis Hamilton      McLaren-Mercedes      1m48.394s  + 0.821s
 9.  Romain Grosjean     Lotus-Renault         1m48.538s  + 0.965s
10.  Paul di Resta       Force India-Mercedes  1m48.890s  + 1.317s
Q2 cut-off time: 1m48.993s                                Gap *
11.  Sebastian Vettel    Red Bull-Renault      1m49.722s  + 0.472s
12.  Nico Hulkenberg     Force India-Mercedes  1m49.362s  + 0.112s
13.  Michael Schumacher  Mercedes              1m49.742s  + 0.492s
14.  Felipe Massa        Ferrari               1m49.588s  + 0.338s
15.  Jean-Eric Vergne    Toro Rosso-Ferrari    1m49.763s  + 0.513s
16.  Daniel Ricciardo    Toro Rosso-Ferrari    1m49.572s  + 0.322s
17.  Bruno Senna         Williams-Renault      1m49.958s  + 0.708s
Q1 cut-off time: 1m50.126s                                Gap **
18.  Nico Rosberg        Mercedes              1m50.181s  + 1.188s***
19.  Heikki Kovalainen   Caterham-Renault      1m51.739s  + 2.746s
20.  Vitaly Petrov       Caterham-Renault      1m51.967s  + 2.974s
21.  Timo Glock          Marussia-Cosworth     1m52.336s  + 3.343s
22.  Pedro de la Rosa    HRT-Cosworth          1m53.030s  + 4.037s
23.  Charles Pic         Marussia-Cosworth     1m53.493s  + 4.500s
24.  Narain Karthikeyan  HRT-Cosworth          1m54.989s  + 5.996s

107 per cent time: 1m56.622s

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