Although several people showed their concerns in the past couple of the days about the weather conditions at Spa-Francorchamps, Saturday brought a clear sky with a dry track, perfect for all the drivers to give their best on one of the most loved F1 circuits.
The first stage of the qualifying saw the two last comers in the sport, Grosjean and Badoer struggle for pace and for a fast lap time and a surprising first place for Italian veteran Giancarlo Fisichella.
After a few garage modifications, the remaining drivers exited the pits in what was one of the most unexpected and exhilarating qualifying sessions in F1 in years. The Q2 was just madness.
The highly-rated McLaren-Mercedes, Brawns and Renaults didn’t seem to have their cars prepared for this track. The drivers of those teams fought desperately to record a good time, but only one of them, Barrichello, managed to advance to Q1.
Both Mclarens and Renaults failed to get into Q1, while Brawn’s Jenson Button placed only 14th… talking about the unexpected. Meanwhile both Trulli and Fisichella looked very composed as they advanced in Q1 from the first and second place respectively.
Another notable performance was that of the BMWs, who managed very fast times throughout the qualifying. By now everyone’s calculations were already boggled and Q1 brought the same order of results as the second qualifying session with the amazing performance of Fisichella.
Here are the full provisional results, for what promises to be one the most exciting races of the season tomorrow:
Pos Driver Team Q1 Q2 Q3
1. Fisichella Force India-Mercedes (B) 1:45.102 1:44.667 1:46.308
2. Trulli Toyota (B) 1:45.140 1:44.503 1:46.395
3. Heidfeld BMW-Sauber (B) 1:45.566 1:44.709 1:46.500
4. Barrichello Brawn-Mercedes (B) 1:45.237 1:44.834 1:46.513
5. Kubica BMW-Sauber (B) 1:45.655 1:44.557 1:46.586
6. Raikkonen Ferrari (B) 1:45.579 1:44.953 1:46.633
7. Glock Toyota (B) 1:45.450 1:44.877 1:46.677
8. Vettel Red Bull-Renault (B) 1:45.372 1:44.592 1:46.761
9. Webber Red Bull-Renault (B) 1:45.350 1:44.924 1:46.788
10. Rosberg Williams-Toyota (B) 1:45.486 1:45.047 1:47.362
11. Sutil Force India-Mercedes (B) 1:45.486 1:45.119
12. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes (B) 1:45.239 1:45.122
13. Alonso Renault (B) 1:45.767 1:45.136
14. Button Brawn-Mercedes (B) 1:45.707 1:45.251
15. Kovalainen McLaren-Mercedes (B) 1:45.761 1:45.259
16. Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari (B) 1:45.705
17. Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari (B) 1:45.951
18. Nakajima Williams-Toyota (B) 1:46.032
19. Grosjean Renault (B) 1:46.307
20. Badoer Ferrari (B) 1:46.359
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