F1 Belgian GP Live Updates - final practice and qualifying
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By: Jake Boxall-Legge
Summary
Status: Stopped
With time to digest qualifying, we will say goodbye for today but be sure to check back tomorrow for the main event - the 2020 Belgian GP. The race starts at 2:10pm BST with build-up and chat aplenty ahead of lights out. It'll be fun, trust us!
Here's the full report on qualifying for the Belgian GP: 
So, another F1 qualifying results in another Hamilton pole position and another Mercedes 1-2. Perhaps no major shocks but the reality of Ferrari being well off the pace of the top 10 is no more startling to see.
Verstappen: "I think for us it has been a very positive weekend so far, we came here knowing it would be really tricky for us so to be P3, still half a second off Lewis, but I am still pretty happy with that."
Bottas: "We got the car right but in the first run I had a bit of a lock-up so lost time there. The second run actually felt pretty good overall so I don't really know about the gap. But I am not really bothered as I know second place is good here and it should be an interesting run to Turn 5."
Hamilton: “Today was a very, very clean session and the end of the lap was getting better and better, we did a lot in the background. Today is a really important pole for me because I woke up to the saddest news of Chadwick [Boseman] passing away. It has been such a heavy year for all of us, so it rocked me. I wanted to go out there and drive to perfection because of what he has done for our people and how he has shown young kids what is possible.”
Albon slots into P5 for Red Bull with Ocon P6 and Sainz P7. Perez beats Racing Point team-mate Stroll for P8 with Norris completing the top 10.
Verstappen displaces Ricciardo to take third place for Red Bull, with the Australian driver having to settle for fourth after aborting his final lap.
Hamilton duly delivers with another new track record of 1m41.252s to take pole position. Bottas is second over half a second behind.
...Hamilton extends his advantage to almost three-tenths of a second in the second sector as the chequered flag comes out.
Rather than swap the running order, Hamilton is sticking with leading the train but this time Bottas is directly behind him. Final laps coming up.
Not a great opening lap from Norris at the bottom of the top 10 and almost a full second behind Stroll in P9. But luckily for him, and the rest of the Q3 contenders, they all have a second shot at improving.
An impressive lap from Ricciardo puts him in third place for Renault and only 0.032s off Bottas. Verstappen is P4 with Red Bull team-mate Albon in P5.
Hamilton puts it on provisional pole position with a 1m41.451s which is a new track record. Bottas slots into second with a 1m42.029s.
All 10 drivers are out early as expected to target a two run go in Q3. Hamilton is at the head of the pack again meaning he won't be getting a tow for this run. But Norris will directly behind him as the rest of the drivers squabble for position.
So, 10 drivers from five teams make up Q3 (Mercedes, Red Bull, Renault, McLaren and Racing Point). Hamilton has topped both Q1 and Q2 ahead of Bottas so the momentum is with the Brit but the next session is when it really matters.
It is also heartache for AlphaTauri with Kvyat P11 and Gasly P12 - while further back Russell is the final Q2 casualty as he ends the session P15 for Williams.
Both Ferraris are out in Q2! Leclerc improves with a 1m42.996s but that only gives him P13, one place ahead of team-mate Vettel.
Perez, now on the softs, moves up to P6 but is pushed back a spot by Stroll immediately who goes up to P5.
Time for the hustle to gain track position and a possible tow for the final runs. But that won't include Ricciardo, who had complained of an issue with his Renault at the end of his first run in Q2, so he will sit out and sweat on his current P4.
That silence doesn't last for long as Perez leads out Racing Point team-mate Stroll. Both are currently outside of the top 10 so have work to do, while both Ferrari drivers and Russell for Williams are the other runners set to drop out in Q2 as things stand.
Q2 is also proving a struggle for Racing Point with both Stroll and Perez outside of the top 10 after the first runs - but they both set their laps on the medium tyres while the rest of the runners were on softs - except for the Mercedes duo and Verstappen.
Russell pits from an out-lap meaning he won't set an early lap time in this session. Verstappen meanwhile slots into P3 fractionally faster than Renault pair Ricciardo and Ocon.
But it isn't long before that trio head out on track as well so all Q2 contenders are in action. Hamilton leads the first train of cars with Bottas in his tow.
Plenty of early takers for the first runs in this session, with 12 cars on track already which leaves only Kvyat, Vettel and Leclerc in the pits.
From pole position at the 2019 Belgian GP to sneaking through to Q2 in 2020. Tough times for Ferrari and Leclerc.
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