Ecstatic Button thinks he's dreaming

He blistered around one of the most fearsome circuits in GP racing to set a time that means he makes his Spa F1 debut from the second row of the grid. Even Michael Schumacher could manage no higher than seventh when he made his debut here for Jordan in 1991.

"I think I'm going to wake up any moment... Wow!" said Button. "It's absolutely amazing. I'm ecstatic. When I saw the British fans waving on my slowing down lap it felt great. I'm in the top three for the first time

"It's a bit of a shock," he added. "I was looking to the top six, but third is great. I was only half a tenth behind Jarno [Trulli] and could have been even higher. But then everyone wants more - you are never happy until you are on pole, and even then Mika [Hakkinen] wants more," joked the delighted Brit.

"When I saw P3 on the board I shouted with delight so loudly I think I defeaned my engineers," he said.

Button out-performed team mate Ralf Schumacher for the fourth time in 12 races this season.

"This is an indication of what I can do when I am at a circuit I know," said Button, who has raced at Spa before in the significantly less powerful Formula 3 category.

"I am looking for a good result tomorrow and getting some points is the main thing."