STAVELOT, Belgium – Lewis Hamilton collected his record-extending sixth Belgian Grand Prix pole during Formula One qualifying Saturday at Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps.
With a track-record lap of 1:41.252 around the 20-turn, 4.352-mile circuit, Hamilton easily cruised to the top time in the third and final knockout round. It’s his third pole in the last four years at Spa.
Hamilton ended the session half a second clear of Mercedes teammate Valtteri Bottas, earning his 93rd career F-1 pole and fifth of the season.
It was also the first front-row sweep for Mercedes at Spa since 2015.
“That was a very, very clean session,” Hamilton noted. “Every lap was getting better and better. We did a lot of great work in the background.”
The qualifying round was an emotional one for Hamilton, who dedicated his pole to late actor Chadwick Boseman, the American film actor and star of Black Panther who died Friday after a four-year battle with colon cancer.
“Today is a really important pole for me, because I woke up to the saddest news of Chadwick passing away, and it’s been such a heavy year for all of us that that news just … really broke me,” Hamilton noted. “It was not easy to get back in focus with that hanging on my heart, but I wanted to go out there and drive to perfection.
“What he’s done for our people and what he’s done for all these young kids (fighting cancer) shows them that it’s possible. He was such a shining light,” Hamilton added. “He inspired a whole generation of young black men and women and provided them with a true superhero to look up to.”
Bottas tried all he could to get close to Hamilton’s leading time, but fell .511 seconds short in the end and will start alongside the six-time world champion on the front row for Sunday’s 44-lap race.
Red Bull’s Max Verstappen will roll off from the second row in third, flanked by Renault’s Daniel Ricciardo, who put in a masterful lap to secure his best-ever starting spot at the historic Spa circuit with a fourth place run.
The second Red Bull of Alex Albon qualified fifth, followed by Ricciardo’s Renault teammate Esteban Ocon. McLaren’s Carlos Sainz, the Racing Point pair of Sergio Perez and Lance Stroll, and the sister McLaren of Lando Norris filled out the top 10.
Saturday was a disaster for Ferrari, as the Prancing Horses barely escaped into Q2. Charles Leclerc qualified a lowly 13th, while Sebastian Vettel will start alongside his teammate in 14th on race day.