Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/720024
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 28 AUGUST 2016 53 Sport FORMULA 1 Rosberg beats Verstappen to Spa pole THE 2016 Formula 1 Belgian Grand Prix will feature a Mer- cedes and a Red Bull at the head of the grid, after Nico Rosberg beat Max Verstappen to pole po- sition by just a tenth of a second in Saturday's qualif ying session at Spa-Francorchamps. Verstap- pen will be the youngest man to ever feature on an F1 front row. With Lewis Hamilton already resigned to starting his Mer- cedes from the back thanks to engine penalties, it was the Fer- raris of Kimi Raikkonen and Se- bastian Vettel who locked out the second row ahead of Daniel Ricciardo in the sister Red Bull, setting up the prospect of a thrilling race today Next up were the Force Indias of Sergio Perez and Nico Hulk- enberg. The Williams of Valtteri Bottas and Felipe Massa, split by the McLaren of Jenson Button, completed the top 10. Both Wil- liams were affected by engine software issues, which meant they were unable to run in quali- f ying mode. Massa had surprised everyone, Ferrari included, by jumping ahead off Vettel and Raikkonen to top the opening Q1 session with 1m 47.738s. Rosberg was fourth, but well within striking range as he had used soft tyres and all of his main rivals were on supersofts. Further back, Fe- lipe Nasr's 1m 48.949s for Sau- ber wasn't quite enough, leav- ing him 17th ahead of debutant Esteban Ocon in the Manor on 1m 49.050s, Daniil Kv yat's Toro Rosso on 1m 49.058s and Mar- cus Ericsson's 1m 49.091s in the second Sauber. Hamilton stuck to softs for 1m 50.033s which was well within the 107 percent rule, as he fo- cused on getting his car right for the race, which of course he must start from the back row. Fernando Alonso was last in this session, without a time, as his McLaren stopped on the ap- proach to Eau Rouge on its out lap. With his own 30-place pen- alty that was not quite the disas- ter it might otherwise have been. Rosberg set the Q2 pace with 1m 46.999s on soft tyres, with Verstappen right behind with 1m 47.163s, though the Dutch- man ran the supersofts and will thus have to start on them. Both Ferrari drivers had a go on su- persofts late on, but chose to abort those laps, hence they too can start on the yellow-marked rubber, along with Ricciardo. A late blast from Jenson But- ton put his McLaren 10th, leav- ing Haas's Romain Grosjean on 1m 48.316s as the first Q2 faller, ahead of Kevin Magnussen on 1m 48.485s for Renault, Gutier- rez - carrying a five-place grid penalty for impeding in FP3 - on 1m 48.558s in the sister Haas and Jolyon Palmer on 1m 48.888s in the second Renault. Carlos Sainz was 15th for Toro Rosso on 1m 49.038s, with Pas- cal Wehrlein 16th for Manor on 1m 49.320s. Rosberg going fastest with 1m 46.744s was hardly a surprise af- ter the first runs in Q3, but Ver- stappen's 1m 46.893s really was sensational, given he had missed the bulk of FP3 with gearbox is- sues, and must have set hearts f luttering at Mercedes. Neither improved on their second runs, but the only one to get close was Raikkonen. Having fallen off at Stavelot on his first run, which he aborted, the Finn made amends with 1m 46.910s to push Ricciardo out of the third place; the Australian had lapped in 1m 47.216s. Then Vettel, complain- ing that the rear end had lost all grip by the end of the lap, edged the second Red Bull down an- other place with his 1m 47.108s. Behind the top five, Perez fi- nally overcame Force India team mate Hulkenberg to take sixth with 1m 47.407s to 1m 47.543s. The aforementioned software issues (which Williams say won't be a problem for the race) meant Bottas couldn't reproduce his previous form and neither could Massa; they lined up eighth on 1m 47.612s and 10th on 1m 48.263s respectively, sandwich- ing Button on 1m 48.114s. The stage is thus set for a fasci- nating race tomorrow. Rosberg, Raikkonen, Vettel and Ricciardo will all start on the more durable soft Pirellis, but it will be inter- esting to see what Verstappen can do on the supersofts. And don't forget Hamilton, trying to charge from the back while steering clear of trouble… With the various penalties applied, the provisional grid currently reads as: Rosberg, Verstappen; Raikkonen, Vettel; Ricciardo, Perez; Hulkenberg, Bottas; Button, Massa; Gros- jean, Magnussen; Palmer, Sainz; Wehrlein, Nasr; Ocon, Gutier- rez; Kv yat, Ericsson; Hamilton, Alonso. Qualifying results - 2016 Belgian Formula 1 Grand Prix Pos. Driver Team Q1 Q2 Q3 Laps 1. N. Rosberg Mercedes 01:48.019 01:46.999 01:46.744 12 2. M. Verstappen Red Bull 01:48.407 01:47.163 01:46.893 12 3. K. Raikkonen Ferrari 01:47.912 01:47.664 01:46.910 13 4. S. Vettel Ferrari 01:47.802 01:47.944 01:47.108 14 5. D. Ricciardo Red Bull 01:48.407 01:48.027 01:47.216 12 6. S. Perez Force India 01:48.106 01:47.485 01:47.407 12 7. N. Hulkenberg Force India 01:48.080 01:47.317 01:47.543 12 8. V. Bottas Williams 01:48.655 01:47.918 01:47.612 12 9. J. Button McLaren 01:48.700 01:48.051 01:48.114 15 10. F. Massa Williams 01:47.738 01:47.667 01:48.263 12 11. R. Grosjean Haas 01:48.751 01:48.316 12 12. K. Magnussen Renault 01:48.800 01:48.485 12 13. E. Gutiérrez Haas 01:48.748 01:48.598 12 14. J. Palmer Renault 01:48.901 01:48.888 12 15. C. Sainz Jr. Toro Rosso 01:48.876 01:49.038 9 16. P. Wehrlein Manor 01:48.554 01:49.320 11 17. F. Nasr Sauber 01:48.949 6 18. E. Ocon Manor 01:49.050 7 19. D. Kvyat Toro Rosso 01:49.058 6 20. M. Ericsson Sauber 01:49.071 6 21. L. Hamilton Mercedes 01:50.033 4 22. F. Alonso McLaren 1 Max Verstappenm Nico Rosberg and Kimi Raikkonen Nico Rosberg