Skip to main content

Sign up for free

  • Get quick access to your favorite articles

  • Manage alerts on breaking news and favorite drivers

  • Make your voice heard with article commenting.

Autosport Plus

Discover premium content
Subscribe
Live text
Formula 1 Belgian GP

2015 Belgian Grand Prix Saturday - Qualifying

Live Text

Sort by
Order now:

1 Hamilton 1m48.984s
2 Rosberg +0.498s
3 Ricciardo +0.946s
4 Kvyat +0.996s
Stopwatch
Hamilton then beats Rosberg by another half a second to go fastest of all in a Mercedes one-two.
Stopwatch
No, that was optimistic for Red Bull - the second half of the lap is much better and Rosberg goes quickest by half a second.
Only 'green' personal best times from the soft-shod Mercedes pair so far, Red Bull's first and second looking safe...
Rosberg is now out on softs, let's see what a Mercedes can do compared to the Red Bulls.
Quiet on track for now, just the Red Bulls and Verstappen slogging round on used softs. Expect a surge from the pits very soon, though.
Quote
Nico Hulkenberg is eighth fastest but it is not all smooth at Force India. "The understeer isn't so good," he tells the team.
Maldonado has had a moment at Rivage but has managed to continue. The Lotus racer lost valuable track time with a crash on Friday morning.
Second half:

11 Perez
12 Ericsson
13 Nasr
14 Sainz
15 Grosjean
16 Maldonado
17 Button
18 Stevens
19 Merhi
20 Alonso (no time)
Order with 20 minutes to go:

1 Ricciardo
2 Kvyat
3 Vettel
4 Verstappen
5 Hamilton
6 Raikkonen
7 Rosberg
8 Hulkenberg
9 Bottas
10 Massa
Just the one lap on the board for Alonso this morning. McLaren's Jonathan Neale has been telling TV crews that Alonso's problem might be an exhaust gas leak.
Mercedes hasn't yet shown its hand in this session - or Hamilton's prediction of a strong Ferrari and Red Bull challenge was correct.

Even when everyone was on mediums, the Mercedes' times were pretty evenly-matched with Ricciardo, and right now Hamilton and Rosberg are only fifth and seventh, or second and fourth among medium times.
Ricciardo (first), Kvyat (second) and Verstappen (fourth) are still the only drivers to use softs so far today.
Some minor improvements further back from Massa in 10th and Maldonado in 16th.
Raikkonen's lap tails off after a purple first sector, he only goes up from seventh to sixth, 0.3s off Vettel in third.
Good lap coming up from Raikkonen too, and he's also still on mediums.
That lap takes Vettel to third overall, half a second off the soft-shod Red Bulls but ahead of Verstappen's soft-shod Toro Rosso.
Grosjean with a small off at the Bus Stop. The Frenchman attempts to clear Merhi's Manor around the outside, only to spin. He's back on his way.
Vettel, who is still on mediums, now goes fastest of all in the first sector. He's 10th at present.
Kvyat goes to second, 0.05s behind Red Bull team-mate Ricciardo's pacesetting soft time.
Kvyat is the latest to try softs, he's currently 10th on his medium time.
Bottom half:

11 Perez
12 Nasr
13 Sainz
14 Ericsson
15 Grosjean
16 Maldonado
17 Stevens
18 Merhi
19 Button
20 Alonso
Latest order:

1 Ricciardo (softs)
2 Verstappen (softs)
3 Hamilton
4 Rosberg
5 Raikkonen
6 Hulkenberg
7 Bottas
8 Massa
9 Vettel
10 Kvyat
Massa goes seventh fastest with that first timed lap. Bottas crosses the line and immediately relegates his team-mate to eighth. It's P7 and P8 for Williams.
Still yet to see a timed lap from either Williams or McLaren. Massa currently on a quick lap.
Verstappen slots into second in the Toro Rosso. The rookie is 0.6s shy of Ricciardo's best time on the softs.
Stopwatch
Predictably, Ricciardo goes fastest with his first soft tyre lap. It's a 1m49.930s for the Australian. That puts him 0.7s clear of Hamilton.
Ricciardo, currently second fastest, is lapping on the soft tyre. Verstappen has also moved onto the yellow-marked Pirellis.
Hamilton, Ricciardo, Raikkonen and Verstappen currently on track. Just over 20 minutes into this final practice session.
Gaps at the front:

1 Hamilton
2 Ricciardo +0.045s
3 Rosberg +0.186s
4 Raikkonen +0.383s
5 Hulkenberg +0.469s
6 Vettel +0.758s
Vettel improves from eighth to sixth, 0.7s off the pace and 0.3s and two places behind Ferrari team-mate Raikkonen.
Further back:

11 Sainz
12 Ericsson
13 Grosjean
14 Maldonado
15 Stevens
16 Merhi

No time: Massa, Button, Alonso, Bottas
Order at present:

1 Hamilton
2 Ricciardo
3 Rosberg
4 Raikkonen
5 Hulkenberg
6 Kvyat
7 Perez
8 Vettel
9 Nasr
10 Verstappen
Stopwatch
Now Hamilton jumps to the top - a 1m50.635s lap puts him 0.045s ahead of Ricciardo.
Improvement from Rosberg takes his Mercedes to second, still a tenth and half off Ricciardo.
Raikkonen has been in the gravel at Les Fanges. The Finn gets a big snap of over-steer on the left hander. He continues after that brief moment.
Kvyat has now joined the session and puts the second Red Bull sixth, between Hamilton and Perez.
Raikkonen puts in Ferrari's first proper flying lap of the session and goes second, 0.338s down on Ricciardo.
Order so far:

1 Ricciardo
2 Hulkenberg
3 Rosberg
4 Hamilton
5 Perez
6 Nasr
7 Verstappen
8 Sainz
9 Grosjean
10 Ericsson
Stopwatch
Ricciardo goes fastest by half a second with a 1m50.680s.

By: AUTOSPORT staff

Published: