Nico Rosberg secured his fourth consecutive pole position for the Belgian Grand Prix to start ahead of his team-mate and championship rival Lewis Hamilton.
The German waited until Q3 to assert his dominance, but it might well have been a mistake by Hamilton which handed pole to Rosberg.
The Briton ran wide on his first attempt, forcing him to set a second banker. However as the track dried out, he had time for just one run whilst Rosberg had two which eventually paid a dividend and his 2:05.591 in the wet was good enough.
Sebastian Vettel will line up third, albeit over two seconds down on the Mercedes, but the Red Bull driver will surely be pleased with the position which puts him alongside Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso.
Daniel Ricciardo was fifth thanks to a scary moment as he approached the Bus Stop chicane. The Williams duo won’t be too happy with sixth for Valtteri Bottas and ninth for Felipe Massa but a dry should play to their advantage.
Both McLarens made the top ten with Kevin Magnussen beating Jenson Button in seventh and tenth respectively, with Kimi Raikkonen eighth.
Jules Bianchi made the most of the conditions to go 16th whilst newcomer Andre Lotterer outqualified his team-mate Marcus Ericsson by almost a second on his debut.
Qualifying – 2014 Belgian Grand Prix
| # | Driver | Team | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | Nico Rosberg | Mercedes | 2:07.130 | 2:06.723 | 2:05.591 |
| 02 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 2:07.280 | 2:06.609 | 2:05.819 |
| 03 | Sebastian Vettel | Red Bull | 2:10.105 | 2:08.868 | 2:07.717 |
| 04 | Fernando Alonso | Ferrari | 2:10.197 | 2:08.450 | 2:07.786 |
| 05 | Daniel Ricciardo | Red Bull | 2:10.089 | 2:08.989 | 2:07.911 |
| 06 | Valtteri Bottas | Williams | 2:09.250 | 2:08.451 | 2:08.049 |
| 07 | Kevin Magnussen | McLaren | 2:11.081 | 2:08.901 | 2:08.679 |
| 08 | Kimi Raikkonen | Ferrari | 2:09.885 | 2:08.646 | 2:08.780 |
| 09 | Felipe Massa | Williams | 2:08.403 | 2:08.833 | 2:08.178 |
| 10 | Jenson Button | McLaren | 2:10.529 | 2:09.272 | 2:09.776 |
| 11 | Daniil Kvyat | Toro Rosso | 2:10.445 | 2:09.377 | |
| 12 | Jean-Eric Vergne | Toro Rosso | 2:09.811 | 2:09.805 | |
| 13 | Sergio Perez | Force India | 2:10.666 | 2:10.084 | |
| 14 | Adrian Sutil | Sauber | 2:11.051 | 2:10.238 | |
| 15 | Romain Grosjean | Lotus | 2:10.898 | 2:11.087 | |
| 16 | Jules Bianchi | Marussia | 2.11.051 | 2:12.470 | |
| 17 | Pastor Maldonado | Lotus | 2:11.261 | ||
| 18 | Nico Hulkenberg | Force India | 2:11.267 | ||
| 19 | Max Chilton | Marussia | 2:12.566 | ||
| 20 | Esteban Gutierrez | Sauber | 2:13.414 | ||
| 21 | Andre Lotterer | Caterham | 2:13.469 | ||
| 22 | Marcus Ericsson | Caterham | 2:14.438 |
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