| 13:51:18
| Welcome to F1-Live.com and live coverage of qualifying for the Belgian Grand Prix. As ever, the session is split into three with the slowest five eliminated at the end of Q1 and Q2 leaving the final ten to take race fuel on board and go for the pole position in Q3. |
| 13:52:47
| Practice ahead of qualifying has not seen ideal conditions and therefore some will be heading into this qualifying hour without having completed all of the tyre assessments and setup work they would have liked. This could prove critical in this session, arguably the most important of the weekend. |
| 13:54:38
| Felipe Massa set the dry Friday pace, but this morning it was Nick Heidfeld on top on a drying circuit in his BMW Sauber. The German veteran recorded a best lap of 1:47.876s. For Heidfeld, qualifying will be extra-important given his recent problems. Team-mate Robert Kubica has struggled so far this weekend and was 13th best this morning. |
| 13:57:08
| Heikki Kovalainen and Lewis Hamilton were second and fourth fastest respectively this morning for McLaren Mercedes with Fernando Alonso again running well for Renault third fastest. Felipe Massa was fifth best in the leading Ferrari ahead of Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen. |
| 13:58:29
| Honda has really struggled so far this weekend. Jenson Button had no running this morning as his RA108 failed on his out lap while Rubens Barrichello was slowest of those to post a time. Expect Honda to make an early exit from qualifying. |
| 13:59:20
| It is overcast and dry. Some say it may rain, some say it will remain dry. We’ll see! |
| 14:00:04
| The first qualifying session is underway. This is a 20 minute session. |
| 14:00:47
| Nelson Piquet heads out in his Renault. He was ninth fastest this morning in practice. |
| 14:01:10
| Giancarlo Fisichella and Kazuki Nakajima head out. |
| 14:01:38
| Button, Barrichello and Sutil head out. |
| 14:01:54
| Based on recent form, this session will be a struggle for Force India, Honda and perhaps one of the Red Bull or Williams drivers. |
| 14:02:37
| Piquet starts his first timed lap. He's be looking for a 1:49.2 or faster now that the circuit is fully dry. |
| 14:03:01
| Massa, Glock and others now going out. |
| 14:03:29
| Piquet is on hard tyres at the moment. |
| 14:04:07
| Piquet records a time of 1:48.7. |
| 14:04:51
| Fisichella moves second fastest. |
| 14:05:08
| Sutil moves third ahead of Nakajima who has a slow lap. |
| 14:05:49
| Massa is on a fast lap as expected as Piquet pits. |
| 14:06:20
| Glock moves fastest for Toyota. They're all on hard tyres at the moment. |
| 14:06:55
| All change as Massa is now fastest from Coulthard. An important session for Coulthard as he has not shown well in qualifying. |
| 14:07:17
| Vettel moves second fastest in his STR. |
| 14:07:37
| Hamilton fastest with ease with Kovalainen slotting second. |
| 14:08:02
| A poor first lap from Button, Bourdais and Nakajima. |
| 14:08:33
| Massa and Raikkonen are now third and fourth fastest. |
| 14:09:06
| Bourdais out brakes himself into the final turn and loses time. |
| 14:09:39
| Remember, the slowest five are eliminated and that is all that counts in Q1. |
| 14:10:17
| A gain for Raikkonen who moves second ahead of Massa. |
| 14:10:48
| The slowest five at the moment are Button, Nakajima, Barrichello, Sutil and Fisichella. |
| 14:12:17
| Another gain from Raikkonen as he closes the gap to Hamilton who has pitted. |
| 14:12:41
| Rosberg's first lap moves him into the top ten. |
| 14:13:06
| Sutil moves 15th and demotes Webber into the slow five. |
| 14:14:20
| Coulthard vaults fifth fastest. |
| 14:15:22
| Kovalainen moves fastest for McLaren. |
| 14:16:42
| Massa has gone back out. Most are in the pits ahead of a final run. Webber, Fisichella, Barrichello, Button and Nakajima need to improve or they are eliminated. |
| 14:17:51
| Massa, fifth, is on another timed lap which is a surprise really as he should be safe. He must be testing something for Q2. |
| 14:18:05
| All but the fastest four on track for a final push. |
| 14:18:49
| Massa moves second fastest and splits the McLaren duo. |
| 14:19:26
| Sutil makes a slight gain and moves 14th. |
| 14:20:10
| The chequered flag is out. |
| 14:20:24
| There may be changes... |
| 14:20:41
| Fisichella is not fast enough as he moves 16th. |
| 14:20:47
| Glock moves seventh. |
| 14:20:54
| Webber moves eighth. |
| 14:21:23
| A gain from Piquet who moves P5. |
| 14:21:49
| Bourdais vaults fastest. No messing there from the Frenchman. |
| 14:22:48
| The slowest five are Fisichella, Nakajima, Sutil, Button and Barrichello. |
| 14:24:00
| A poor session for Williams with Nakajima slowest but one and Rosberg only just in with P15. As expected for Honda and Force India although Sutil really did push hard to get 18th. |
| 14:24:29
| Bourdais was fastest of all on a 1:46.8, the fastest lap of the weekend to date. |
| 14:24:40
| There is now a short pause ahead of Q2. |
| 14:27:05
| The second qualifying session is underway. This is a 15 minute session. |
| 14:28:23
| This session will see some big names fail to make the cut. An important session for Rosberg, Toyota, Red Bull, BMW and Piquet. |
| 14:28:39
| Raikkonen heads out in his Ferrari. |
| 14:29:31
| Others now heading out. With such a long lap, they cannot afford to wait in the pits. |
| 14:30:14
| Raikkonen is now on his first timed lap. |
| 14:30:41
| As ever, all on track but the BMW Sauber duo who always let the others run first. |
| 14:31:21
| Raikkonen is on the soft tyre for his first run. |
| 14:32:09
| A good first lap from Raikkonen on a 1:46.3. |
| 14:32:44
| Kovalainen moves fastest also on the soft tyre. |
| 14:33:19
| Hamilton moves second on the hard tyre after wheelspin exiting the final turn. Alonso runs wide at turn nine. |
| 14:33:59
| So many times coming in. Massa moves P4 ahead of Alonso, Vettel and Piquet. |
| 14:34:46
| A tough day at Williams with Rosberg slowest on the first run so far. Kubica and Heidfeld yet to set a time but on track. |
| 14:35:49
| Kubica locks a front right wheel into turn eight, but no major issue. |
| 14:36:16
| Most have pitted. The BMW duo on first laps. |
| 14:36:55
| Kubica moves sixth fastest but a scruffy end to the lap with locked wheels into the final turn. |
| 14:37:14
| Heidfeld moves fourth fastest. |
| 14:37:26
| A much better lap from Heidfeld. |
| 14:37:40
| So they are all in the pits ahead of a final run. |
| 14:38:17
| Rosberg is slowest from Coulthard, Trulli, Webber and Glock are the slowest five. |
| 14:38:37
| Heidfeld is cutting it fine time wise as he is still on his way back to the pits. |
| 14:39:14
| Vettel, Kubica and others now heading out with three minutes remaining. Soft tyres for all. |
| 14:39:48
| McLaren and Ferrari keep their drivers in the pits. Everyone else out. |
| 14:40:51
| It is a surprise not to see Massa, P5, going out again as he is only six-tenths up on P10 at the moment. |
| 14:41:43
| Vettel runs a little wide at turn nine and kicks up dust. |
| 14:41:57
| Most are on better laps and looking to improve. |
| 14:42:01
| The chequered flag is out. |
| 14:42:25
| Vettel moves seventh. |
| 14:42:37
| Glock has not improves from 11th. |
| 14:42:58
| Bourdais moves seventh, Alonso eighth, Webber tenth. |
| 14:43:09
| Rosberg stays 15th. |
| 14:43:42
| So the slowest five are Rosberg on a dismal day for Williams, Coulthard, Glock, Piquet and Trulli. |
| 14:44:24
| Kovalainen is the fastest man in that session on a 1:46.0. Both Toro Rossos are in the top ten. |
| 14:44:49
| There is a short pause as race fuel is added ahead of Q3. |
| 14:50:14
| The final qualifying session is underway and this is just a ten minute session with two runs each. |
| 14:50:43
| Massa is the first man out. |
| 14:51:12
| The Brazilian is straight onto the soft tyre as they do not have time for a banker lap in this session. |
| 14:51:23
| The others are now heading back out. |
| 14:51:47
| The times will be slower in this session as they have race fuel on board. |
| 14:52:53
| Vettel remains in the pits and has yet to head out in his Toro Rosso. He may be looking at just a single run. |
| 14:54:21
| Massa goes too deep into the final chicane and loses time. He records a 1:48.7 |
| 14:54:51
| Raikkonen gets the final turn right and moves fastest ahead of Massa, Webber and Bourdais. |
| 14:55:17
| Hamilton is now fastest by half a second. |
| 14:55:48
| Kovalainen moves second as Heidfeld splits the Ferrari duo. Quite a difference between McLaren and Ferrari... |
| 14:56:21
| Bourdais was not fast and that indicated a heavy fuel load. |
| 14:57:05
| Three minutes remain and they are all taking a final set of soft tyres and heading back out. |
| 14:57:39
| Vettel is making just one run and is probably on a heavy fuel load like STR team-mate Bourdais. |
| 14:58:43
| Massa starts his final lap. |
| 14:59:03
| Massa is looking to move up from fifth position. |
| 14:59:55
| A number of drivers on fast laps... |
| 15:00:01
| The chequered flag is out. |
| 15:00:31
| Massa moves fastest. |
| 15:00:41
| Hamilton is on a fast one... |
| 15:00:58
| Hamilton moves fastest and pole position on a 1:47.3 |
| 15:01:25
| Kovalainen moves third fastest. |
| 15:02:37
| So Hamilton has the pole position for the Belgian Grand Prix from Massa, Kovalainen, Raikkonen, Heidfeld, Alonso, Webber, Kubica, Bourdais and Vettel. |
