Hamilton after Belgian GP victory: “Today was a dream”

Hamilton narrowly beat Rosberg to the session-topping time.

Pastor Maldonado: “We had been doing a great job this weekend, especially yesterday”.

“You want to get those pole positions and translate them into wins and hopefully today is the beginning of that, so I am looking forward to the next races”.

He should know. Twelve months ago he had left Spa-Francorchamps leading by 29 points, yet come season’s end at the Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix it was Hamilton celebrating the championship thanks to a run of six victories from the remaining seven races.

He cruised his way round, increasing his speed when he really needed to, which wasn’t very often; and allowed the chasing pack to engage in their own battles which simply did not involve him.

“We don’t really understand it for sure it’s worrying” the German said. After a detailed investigation, Pirelli concluded that it was the result of an external object – such as a piece of debris – cutting the tire rather than any form of structural failure.

The nature of this track, with the long run up to Les Combes – the scene of Hamilton’s crash with Rosberg past year – means it can be a disadvantage starting from the front of the field. It is the longest circuit, at 4.3 miles, and presents a challenge relished by every driver as they snake through its contours deep in the forest of the Ardennes. Valtteri Bottas started in the third position, but fell back in the first stint of the race and was eventually forced to serve a penalty for running a combination of two separate tire compounds.

The Frenchman, however, will start Sunday’s race from ninth due to a five-place grid penalty for changing his gearbox, but he will have been encouraged by his performance on Saturday. Kimi Raikkonen crossed the line in seventh for Ferrari with Max Verstappen, the unfortunate Bottas, and Sauber driver Marcus Ericsson rounding out the top 10.

Kimi Raikkonen a four-time victor in Belgium was eliminated in the second qualifying session when his Ferrari sputtered to a stop. Always an entertaining correspondent over the radio, today he pleasantly enquired of his team whether they had “forgotten to connect the batteries” in his pathetically underpowered McLaren Honda.

Hamilton’s best lap of one minute 48.984 seconds was nearly half a second quicker than his Mercedes team-mate Rosberg. Bottas was 1.340 seconds off the pace. ‘It should be a close fight tomorrow.

Grosjean made his first podium since finishing second in the U.S. Grand Prix in Austin, Texas, in 2013. Perez had a look around the outside of Hamilton, but backed out as soon as the Mercedes claimed the apex in order to retain second place. Hamilton and Rosberg started from the front of the grid but neither made the podium.

Hamilton’s opening gambit was a 1m47.449s, and Rosberg was only able to manage a 1m47.895s, losing three tenths in the middle sector alone and 0.446s overall.

Jenson Button outqualified teammate Fernando Alonso as the McLarens prepare to start from the very back of the grid.