Qualifying report
Formula 1 Belgian GP
Rosberg took pole position for the Belgian GP
Lewis Hamilton completing a Silver Arrows front row lockout in wet conditions at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps.
Edited: Aug 23, 2014, 3:07 PM
Copy link
Share on Viber
Today's result represents the team's fifth front-row lockout of the 2014 season in 12 races. Nico's 11th career pole position (and fourth in a row) is also the team's 11th pole in 12 races this year.
Lewis secured his eighth front row starting slot of the 2014 season with second place. Both drivers ran intermediate tyres throughout qualifying in consistent wet conditions.
Drivers
Qualifying 1
Qualifying 2
Qualifying 3
Nico Rosberg
2:07.130
P1
2:06.723
P2
2:05.591
P1
Lewis Hamilton
2:07.280
P2
2:06.609
P1
2:05.819
P2
**Nico Rosberg: "**It's fantastic to start from pole here at Spa. It's never easy here in these conditions, which make the track even more challenging. But today was very stable with intermediate conditions throughout, so not as tough as in previous years. It was a great qualifying performance today and I have to thank the team for their great work. My engineers helped me to find the right setup with all the opportunities to change something during a session.
The car went better and better at the end, so I'm very happy and also a bit surprised that the gap was so big to the other teams. Having said that, I hope to have a good start and a clear race tomorrow because, like we have seen in Budapest, Sunday is the day that counts. But I'm quite confident as we have a fantastic car. I'm looking forward to the race."
**Lewis Hamilton: "**I was a bit nervous going into qualifying - wondering if everything would come together after the troubles I've had during recent weekends. But it's great to see that all the hard work the team has put in is paying off. This circuit is a big challenge in the wet. It's probably more fun in the dry, when you're right on the edge of performance, but the conditions were pretty stable so it wasn't too bad. This is a circuit where you need confidence on the brakes but unfortunately, on my Q3 run, I had a glazed front left brake which made the car pull to the side.
When it does that, it's really hard to recover and get the temperature into the brake, so it meant I kept losing a bit of braking power on my final laps. I'm not too disappointed, though. Last year I was on pole, then Seb came flying past me down the Kemmel Straight, so I think P2 could be the best place to be. It may just be a blessing in disguise with the grid slot. "
**Toto Wolff: "**Sometimes in these wet conditions, you just hit the sweet spot with both the car set-up and the tyres - and that's definitely what happened for us today, with a car that was the class of the field on the intermediates. But you then need two fantastic drivers to deliver and it's very encouraging to see both cars on the front row for the first time since Canada.
However, the performance gaps we saw today were not normal and we are taking nothing for granted. Our rivals will be dangerous in the race if it's dry, and we will be working hard tonight to make sure we find the right strategy for both drivers to fight for the win tomorrow."
**Paddy Lowe: "**We never like to see rain ahead of qualifying because it always means lots of stress - and this was our fifth wet qualifying session in 12 races so far this year! But on the other hand the conditions were pretty kind, as it was consistent intermediate tyre weather throughout which saved us any difficult decisions on which tyres to use.
We are also pleased to see that the car enjoyed a significant pace advantage in the conditions, which made life easier - and set things up for a fantastic competition for pole between our two drivers, who had a great battle today. The only issue we saw was brake glazing - in particular on Lewis' car. But overall, we are most happy to have both cars at the front and to have enjoyed a clean qualifying session - which we have not seen for a number of races. Well done to everybody in the team."
Mercedes AMG Petronas
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
- The Motorsport.com Team
Read and post comments
Read also :
Share Or Save This Story
Copy link
Share on Viber
Previous article Rosberg secures Belgian GP pole in treacherous conditions
Next article Red Bull: A good grid positions for tomorrow’s Belgian GP
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
Lewis Hamilton
‘I’ll try to win, somehow’ – Can Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen fight back for F1 Brazilian GP victory?
Formula 1
Formula 1
Sao Paulo GP
‘I’ll try to win, somehow’ – Can Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen fight back for F1 Brazilian GP victory?
F1 Brazilian GP: Sunday schedule, weather forecast and how to watch
Formula 1
Formula 1
Sao Paulo GP
F1 Brazilian GP: Sunday schedule, weather forecast and how to watch
More from
Mercedes
George Russell has lost 90 points to Max Verstappen in F1 2026 runner-up battle
Formula 1
Formula 1
Sao Paulo GP
11 h
George Russell has lost 90 points to Max Verstappen in F1 2026 runner-up battle
Charles Leclerc penalised for Liam Lawson clash; Kimi Antonelli and Oliver Bearman also punished after F1 Brazilian GP
Formula 1
Formula 1
Sao Paulo GP
Charles Leclerc penalised for Liam Lawson clash; Kimi Antonelli and Oliver Bearman also punished after F1 Brazilian GP
Latest news
Alex Bowman hits out at critics in snarky post, shooting down early exit rumors
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Homestead-Miami
6 h
Alex Bowman hits out at critics in snarky post, shooting down early exit rumors
Ryan Blaney gets sweet redemption after 'nightmares' following 2024 Homestead loss
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Homestead-Miami
7 h
Ryan Blaney gets sweet redemption after 'nightmares' following 2024 Homestead loss
IndyCar 2026 season review: Dale Coyne Racing
IndyCar
Indy IndyCar 7 h
IndyCar 2026 season review: Dale Coyne Racing
Noah Gragson apologizes to Daniel Suarez for spinning him at Homestead
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Homestead-Miami
7 h
Noah Gragson apologizes to Daniel Suarez for spinning him at Homestead
Feature
Discover prime content
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.
Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here
Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page
Manage Alerts
Subscribe