That has to be a first, hail stones falling the moments before the session got underway and some of the most intense rainfall that the paddock has seen in a long time. A similarly big storm arrived a couple of hours later and drowned the GP2 race for a lap or so. The unpredictability of the weather across the Ardenne region struck once more today, from monsoon rains, hail and then bright sunshine. So a typical day in Spa then, not that it did to much to uproot Mercedes campaign of domination that resumed faultlessly after the summer break.
In all honesty although I did sit and watch qualifying today, as I do regularly during a season - I can't remember any of it. Because there was various things that needed painting - there is a giant false beak for a tropical bird which doesn't exist and an articulating tortoise... I may as well point out what they are now because as I survey the fruits of my labours I can only glad that the audience are a considerable distance from the stage when these creations are unveiled at the end of the week. This is why I was never too good at art. But on with the show, and I shall now google what did happened in the rain and damp of Belgium and do my level best write something meaningful about today.
Qualifying
The last of the gigantic storms had rolled away before Q1 was due to start and most of the larger puddles had drained from the track surface, leaving the circuit on the cusp of selecting intermediates over the full wet compound. The majority of the field did vote for the intermediate tyre, while Williams stuck with the wet option. It appeared neither had the advantage over the other, the intermediates were faster but were at a higher risk of aquaplaning - Daniil Kvyat hitting a puddle on the way down to Eau Rouge. Fortunately the Russian saved the little slide and didn't end up in the wall. Braking was also proving very difficult - those on the full wet tyres have a smaller contact patch with the tarmac and both Massa and Bottas were experiencing lock-ups under braking. Even the Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton ran wide at the Bus Stop after running out of grip on entry. But save of the session belonged to Kimi Raikkonen who got a little sideways in Radillon - which could easily have been an enormous shunt.
On the time sheets the Mercedes team locked out the provisional front row with Hamilton in front, meanwhile Gutierrez pulled his Sauber into retirement on the exit of Stavelot. This meant, in theory that only one car from a team other than Caterham or Marussia would be up for relegation. Neither Lotterer in his Caterham debut or Ericsson looked like they were going to turn their fortunes around like Van Der Garde did for the team in 2013. Marussia however were fairing much better Bianchi and even Chilton, having taken his drive back from Rossi, were out of the relegation zone. In the dying minutes of the session Romain Grosjean was able to bump Chilton down into relegation. Hulkenberg had a chance to do the same to the Lotus driver, but a lock-up in the Bus Stop chicane thwarted his chances. Bianchi however remained safe and paid another visit to Q2.
Q2
More rain was threatened as Q2 began so there was an immediate stream of cars too to the circuit, and because of the length of the track and the time it takes to complete an inlap/outlap sequence the drivers were left to circulate for a while. Perez and Grosjean in the lone contenders for their respective teams were the first drivers to set a time - despite Romain getting very sideways through the first corner at La Source. Grosjean went one step further on his next lap spinning after changing some settings on the steering wheel.
A hint of some additional precipitation started to show as more cars were getting sideways - Kvyat once more having to stop the car spinning into the fence. Daniil always seeming to test the limits of adhesion - in those moments when he is not delivering that infamous death stare. Hamilton had a little wobble in Eau Rouge, and Rosberg benefitted from the extended tarmac on the outside of Beau Rivage. Had the gravel still been there, it'd be curtains for the German.
In the final few moments of the session it appeared to be a battle between McLaren and the two Red Bull teams to avoid relegation. Initially Magnussen and the Toro Rosso drivers that had the advantage, how Vergne has the motivation to keep going after being dropped by the team. In challenging conditions you can never rule out Jenson Button, and the Briton delivered once again - relegating Vergne as he jumped into the top ten. The second Toro Rosso fell to after a final charge from Sebastian Vettel - and on the drive back to the garage after the session concluded Daniil was noticeably livid. The Russian was shaking his fist and was very unhappy about something - made so much worse when he span the car while trying to drive it with one hand. If there is anything worse than that death stare, it is a very angry death stare...
Q3
To avoid further conflict it is time to move on to Q3 the final session, and it was all set up for another titanic battle between Hamlton and Rosberg for pole position. Mercedes had over a second in hand over the rest of the field - no-one could get anywhere near them on pace. The weather prevented a strike from Williams and everyone else further behind them. Hamilton went first and immediately dropped the ball in turn one, just running wide and losing time before the lap had really begun. Rosberg immediately capitalised on Lewis' error to take the initial pole position, to make matters worse for Hamilton the timing of his mistake prevented a double run at the end of the session.
Behind the Mercedes pairing Red Bull were running mere centimetres from disaster through Blancimont - Vettel running along the damp curbing on his way to third place. Ricciardo went one better and was sliding across the tarmac run-off through the puddles without lifting - he did lose the chance of beating Vettel in the process. Back to the lead battle and Hamilton was driving inordinately slowly through the final chicane, setting up for a final charge. But once again he almost threw the whole thing away in La Source, but this time kept up the momentum, his challenge did come apart in Stavelot where he just drifted offline and to the grass verge. Lewis managed to improve his time compared to the first lap but was still slower than Nico. To add insult to injury Rosberg went and improved his time and claim a fourth consecutive pole position - this time against a team-mate that was still in contention.
The Bonus Points Championship Points Winners
It is these conditions that can often exemplify some of the strongest performances and make others look very embarrassed.
- 10pts - Jules Bianchi - When the conditions get tricky at Spa, Jules manages to shine - making it into Q2
- 8pts - Nico Rosberg - In a straight fight in difficult conditions, and the German comes out on top when Lewis was tipped to dominate
- 6pts - Sebastian Vettel - Best of those drivers who don't have the good fortune of the Mercedes car
- 5pts - Lewis Hamilton - Gets the car back onto the front row, but still continues to make mistakes.
- 4pts - Andre Lotterer - His first qualifying session in very difficult conditions and the Le Mans champion defeats Ericsson by over a second... why wasn't he replaced this weekend instead
- 3pts - Kimi Raikkonen - Gets some points for the greatest save of the session
- 2pts - Daniil Kvyat - Gets some points for lots of sideways moments and an entertaining mental breakdown on the drive back to the pits.
- 1pt -Konstantin Tereshchenko - A name you might not have heard of, me neither frankly, but this Russian in GP3 practice was thrown several metres into the air after hitting one of those giant curbs. The ones put in place to stop corner cutting, caused an enormous accident - if Red Bull gives you wings than this could be a new way of joining their development program. Here's a link to his incredible flight, which he did walk harmlessly away from. Here
Looking to Tomorrow
Well, the forecasts suggest that tomorrow will be a completely dry race, but given the variability of the Belgian weather don't necessarily mean that is a certainty. Either way for the first time in a few races we are scheduled for a duel for the victory between both of the Mercedes drivers sitting on the front row. A battle hopefully on the same level that we saw all the way back in Bahrain because that was majestic. In fact we have all the main protagonists at the front of the grid on a track which deserves and demands a lot of respect. It should be a brilliant afternoon.
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