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Belgian Grand Prix 2014: Nico Rosberg starts on pole position
Nico Rosberg, Lewis Hamilton will start on the front row of the 2014 Belgium Grand Prix.
By Palash Ghawde
Germany’s Nico Rosberg will start the Belgium Grand Prix on pole position on Sunday after he managed to outpace his teammate yet again, despite Lewis Hamilton’s last lap attempt. Even as the British driver was the fastest in Sector 1 of the last lap, he couldn’t convert it into a pole as he lost grip elsewhere.
With the season at an intriguing juncture following the summer break, the rain-affected qualifiers experienced intense action at the Spa Franco Champs race circuit. Mercedes looked untouchable right from the start, rains seems to have least bothered their pace with competitors like Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso and William’s Valetteri Bottas, who faced trouble with the constant downpour.
The Spaniard was breathing down the silver arrows during the practice sessions, but couldn’t reproduce the pace out of his F14T on a wet track. The bus stand chicane troubled everyone with lack of grip forcing many into run off area.
Force India’s Nico Hulkenberg couldn’t make it to Q2 for the first time in the season along with Williams Maldonado who finished at P17 at the end of Q1. The new driver Lotterer outperformed his teammate on his debut F1 qualifying. Q2 times were again topped by the Mercedes drivers, whereas the battle in the midfield for tomorrow’s line up heated up
In the dying moments, Jenson Button and Sebastian Vettel squeezed into the top 10 on their last run and just about managed to gain berth for Q3 Force India’s Sergio Perez was the last man to post a time in Q2 and ended up with a dismal show at P13 on a circuit where Force India grabbed their first podium a few years back.
It was meant to be an intense battle right from the start with all the drivers from Mercedes, Red Bull, Ferrari and Williams in for a drive. Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel will start third on the grid after he finished a staggering two second off Hamilton’s pace. Fernando Alonso qualified fourth separating the two Red Bulls as Daniel Ricciardio went off the track in the final lap and settled for the fifth place on the track. The Finn from Williams, Valeteri Bottas came 6th followed by McLaren’s young Kevin Magnussen. Ferrari’s Kimi Raikonnen finished ninth and McLarens Jenson Button completed the top 10.
The race is set for an exciting start on Sunday, but he rain gods might just ruin someone’s Belgian party.