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Belgian GP: Lewis Hamilton claims pole in breathtaking qualifying

Lewis Hamilton claimed his fourth consecutive Formula 1 pole position in a breathtaking end to the Belgian Grand Prix qualifying session

A rain shower at the start of Q3 made it look like Paul di Resta would snatch a sensational pole position for Force India.

But as the track dried up again, the Mercedes and Red Bulls blasted through to demote the Scot to fifth.

Di Resta was the only man to start Q3 on intermediates, and while the other nine drivers slithered helplessly and had to pit again to abandon their slicks, the Force India flew to the top.

It seemed that no one else would have a chance, although Hamilton's Mercedes team-mate Nico Rosberg hinted at a challenge when he got within half a second of the Force India in much worse weather.

While di Resta pitted with pole apparently in the bag, the rain eased completely, and those able to squeeze in a lap at the end were back in pole contention.

It was Rosberg who first deposed the Force India, but he was quickly beaten by first Red Bull's Mark Webber, then Hamilton.

Sebastian Vettel came through 0.2 seconds slower than Hamilton to claim the second front row spot, followed by Webber, Rosberg and di Resta.

Jenson Button put the lead McLaren an encouraging sixth.

Lotus and Ferrari had to settle for rows four and five, with title contenders Kimi Raikkonen and Fernando Alonso back in eighth and ninth positions.

The biggest upset of the wet-but-drying first part of qualifying was Marussia duo Jules Bianchi and Max Chilton plus Caterham's Giedo van der Garde all making it through to Q2.

The trio were the only drivers to try slicks at the end of the session and all jumped up the order, all the way to third in van der Garde's case.

As they progressed, both Williams, both Toro Rossos and Sauber's Esteban Gutierrez were left to rue more conservative tactics as they failed to reach Q2.

With Q2 dry, van der Garde, Bianchi and Chilton lined up in 14th to 16th places.

That still means Caterham will share row seven with a McLaren, as Sergio Perez was the highest-profile driver to fall in Q2.

He starts behind the all-German row six pairing of Nico Hulkenberg and Adrian Sutil.

Pos  Driver              Team                   Time            Gap   
 1.  Lewis Hamilton      Mercedes               2m01.012s           
 2.  Sebastian Vettel    Red Bull-Renault       2m01.200s  + 0.188s 
 3.  Mark Webber         Red Bull-Renault       2m01.325s  + 0.313s 
 4.  Nico Rosberg        Mercedes               2m02.251s  + 1.239s 
 5.  Paul di Resta       Force India-Mercedes   2m02.332s  + 1.320s 
 6.  Jenson Button       McLaren-Mercedes       2m03.075s  + 2.063s 
 7.  Romain Grosjean     Lotus-Renault          2m03.081s  + 2.069s 
 8.  Kimi Raikkonen      Lotus-Renault          2m03.390s  + 2.378s 
 9.  Fernando Alonso     Ferrari                2m03.482s  + 2.470s 
10.  Felipe Massa        Ferrari                2m04.059s  + 3.047s
Q2 cut-off time: 1m49.088s                             Gap **
11.  Nico Hulkenberg     Sauber-Ferrari         1m49.088s  + 0.792s  
12.  Adrian Sutil        Force India-Mercedes 	1m49.103s  + 0.807s  
13.  Sergio Perez        McLaren-Mercedes     	1m49.304s  + 1.008s  
14.  Giedo van der Garde Caterham-Renault     	1m52.036s  + 3.740s  
15.  Jules Bianchi       Marussia-Cosworth    	1m52.563s  + 4.267s  
16.  Max Chilton         Marussia-Cosworth    	1m52.762s  + 4.466s  
Q1 cut-off time: 2m02.948s                              Gap *
17.  Pastor Maldonado    Williams-Renault       2m03.072s  + 2.882s  
18.  Jean-Eric Vergne  	 Toro Rosso-Ferrari   	2m03.300s  + 3.110s  
19.  Daniel Ricciardo    Toro Rosso-Ferrari  	2m03.317s  + 3.127s  
20.  Valtteri Bottas   	 Williams-Renault     	2m03.432s  + 3.242s  
21.  Esteban Gutierrez   Sauber-Ferrari         2m04.324s  + 4.134s  
22.  Charles Pic         
                        
107% time: 2m08.603s    
* Gap to quickest in Q1 
** Gap to quickest in Q2

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