LIVE F1, Belgian GP 2020: real-time qualifying updates. Hamilton takes pole position, embarassing Ferrari

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16.06 Thank you for following us. Keep following OA Sport for more stories, updates, comments and videos. Enjoy the rest of the day, and until tomorrow for the race.

16.05 Mercedes dominates in this qualifying session again, but Hamilton definitely made the difference. Maybe starting in Monza, without the “party-mode” the results on track will be slightly different. Tomorrow there are good chances of rain, so we’ll see how that impact the race.

16.04 Pole position n. 118 for Mercedes.

16.03 Final standings after Q3:

1 Lewis HAMILTON Mercedes1:41.252 5
2 Valtteri BOTTAS Mercedes+0.511 6
3 Max VERSTAPPEN Red Bull Racing+0.526 5
4 Daniel RICCIARDO Renault+0.809 4
5 Alexander ALBON Red Bull Racing+1.012 5
6 Esteban OCON Renault+1.144 5
7 Carlos SAINZ McLaren+1.186 5
8 Sergio PEREZ Racing Point+1.280 5
9 Lance STROLL Racing Point+1.351 5
10 Lando NORRIS McLaren+1.405 6

16.01 Ricciardo will start from P4. Follow, in order, Albon, Ocon, Sainz, Perez, Stroll and Norris.

16.00 Bottas in P2, 0.511 behind Hamilton. Verstappen only 0.526 behind. Unlucky the Dutchman who was close enough to take the front row.

15.59 Pole position n. 93 for Hamilton.

15.59 HAMILTON in 1’41″252 ANOTHER TRACK RECORD!

15.56 LAST ATTEMPTS! Hamilton will try to improve his record, while Verstappen, with a perfect lap, could try to start from the front row.

15.54 As it happened already this year, Racing Point is not as brilliant in the qualifying as it is during free practice.

15.54 Standings with 5 minutes left in Q3:

1 Lewis HAMILTON Mercedes1:41.451 4
2 Valtteri BOTTAS Mercedes+0.578 5
3 Daniel RICCIARDO Renault+0.610 3
4 Max VERSTAPPEN Red Bull Racing+0.629 4
5 Alexander ALBON Red Bull Racing+0.813 4
6 Carlos SAINZ McLaren+0.987 4
7 Esteban OCON Renault+1.002 4
8 Sergio PEREZ Racing Point+1.081 5
9 Lance STROLL Racing Point+1.152 5
10 Lando NORRIS McLaren+1.957 5

15.53 Bottas is second, 0.578 behind his teammate. Ricciardo is in P3 with an incredible lap, only 0.610 behind Hamilton. Verstappen immediately follows. +0.629. Incredible balance with among the drivers, with Hamilton who almost guaranteed the pole position again.

15.51 Hamilton talked the lead in 1’41″451 which is also a new track record. AMAZING LAP FOR HAMILTON!

15.50 Mercedes start the attempt to get into pole position. Both have soft tyres.

15.48 Q3 starts now! 12 minutes to define the top-ten starting grid.

15.45 Tomorrow for Ferrari will be unthinkable also to gain some points. We’ll see if the rain will help or not the Italian team.

15.43 Of the top ten drivers, only Hamilton, Bottas and Verstappen will start the race with medium tyres. Everyone else has to start with soft tyres.

15.43 Eliminated after Q2, in order from P11 to P15, Kvyat, Gasly, Leclerc, Vettel and Russell.

15.43 Standings after Q2:

1 Lewis HAMILTON Mercedes1:42.014 3
2 Valtteri BOTTAS Mercedes+0.112 4
3 Alexander ALBON Red Bull Racing+0.179 3
4 Max VERSTAPPEN Red Bull Racing+0.459 3
5 Carlos SAINZ McLaren+0.464 3
6 Daniel RICCIARDO Renault+0.473 2
7 Lance STROLL Racing Point+0.477 4
8 Esteban OCON Renault+0.520 3
9 Sergio PEREZ Racing Point+0.656 4
10 Lando NORRIS McLaren+0.708 4
11 Daniil KVYAT AlphaTauri+0.716 4
12 Pierre GASLY AlphaTauri+0.731 4
13 Charles LECLERC Ferrari+0.982 4
14 Sebastian VETTEL Ferrari+1.247 4
15 George RUSSELL Williams+1.454 4

15.42 This is the first time that at least one Ferrari car does not get into Q3 since the existence of this qualifying format in F1. A terrible page for the history of Ferrari.

15.41 Leclerc via radio: “There isn’t anything else I can do”

15.40 VETTEL OUT TOO! WHAT A HORRIBLE WEEKEND FOR FERRARI!

15.40 LECLERC OUT!

15.39 There are issues for Ricciardo who does not start his last attempt and patiently waits in the car in Renault’s garage. He is in P4 at the moment. Will it be enough for him?

15.38 Leclerc is the first one to start the last attempt. Ferrari needs a miracle to qualify in the top ten.

15.36 Racing Point’s both cars are on track with soft tyres.

15.34 It was only last year when Ferrari dominated the qualifying with both Leclerc and Vettel in the front row. It seems ages ago.

15.33 Ferrari has almost no chances to get into Q3.

15.32 Temporary standings of Q2:

1 Lewis HAMILTON Mercedes1:42.014 2
2 Valtteri BOTTAS Mercedes+0.112 3
3 Max VERSTAPPEN Red Bull Racing+0.459 2
4 Daniel RICCIARDO Renault+0.473 2
5 Esteban OCON Renault+0.520 2
6 Alexander ALBON Red Bull Racing+0.708 2
7 Pierre GASLY AlphaTauri+0.763 3
8 Lando NORRIS McLaren+0.813 3
9 Carlos SAINZ McLaren+0.945 2
10 Daniil KVYAT AlphaTauri+0.953 3
11 Lance STROLL Racing Point+1.242 3
12 Sergio PEREZ Racing Point+1.250 3
13 Sebastian VETTEL Ferrari+1.679 3
14 Charles LECLERC Ferrari+1.945 3
15 George RUSSELL Williams- – 3

15.31 Ferrari are both last. Vettel in P13, 1″679 behind the leader and Leclerc in P14 1″945. Russel is the only one behind them as he has not registered a timed lap in Q2 yet.

15.30 Verstappen right behind both Mercedes, less than half a second behind them. A good performance for Renault: Ricciardo in P4 +0.473 and Ocon in P5 +0.520. Stroll and Perez, respectively in P11 and P12, both Racing Point risk and might need to put soft tyres.

15.29 1’42″014 for Hamilton, Bottas follows in +0.112. Norris in P3 0.813 behind the leader.

15.28 Ferrari is the last one to start the session.

15.26 Verstappen, Perez and Stroll have medium tyres too, soft for everyone else.

15.25 Mercedes is on track with medium tyres. As a reminder, the divers will start the race tomorrow with the same tyres they use to gain their bests time in this session.

15.25 Q2 starts now! 15 minutes to decide the top ten and the positions from 10 to 15.

15.23 Ferrari completed the daily task: qualify into Q2. It seems unthinkable that these cars can do more today.

15.22 Q1 confirmed the hegemony of Mercedes. Alpha Tauri also has had a great performance so far.

15.21 Eliminated Raikkonen, Grosjean, Giovinazzi, Latifi and Magnussen. Leclerc qualified into Q2 only by 0.087.

15.20 Standings after Q1:

1 Lewis HAMILTON Mercedes1:42.323 1
2 Valtteri BOTTAS Mercedes+0.211 2
3 Max VERSTAPPEN Red Bull Racing+0.874 1
4 Pierre GASLY AlphaTauri+0.939 2
5 Lance STROLL Racing Point+0.942 2
6 Daniil KVYAT AlphaTauri+0.944 2
7 Daniel RICCIARDO Renault+0.986 1
8 Carlos SAINZ McLaren+0.999 1
9 Sergio PEREZ Racing Point+1.026 2
10 Alexander ALBON Red Bull Racing+1.095 1
11 Esteban OCON Renault+1.182 1
12 Lando NORRIS McLaren+1.191 2
13 Sebastian VETTEL Ferrari+1.244 2
14 George RUSSELL Williams+1.307 2
15 Charles LECLERC Ferrari+1.333 2
16 Kimi RÄIKKÖNEN Alfa Romeo Racing+1.420 2
17 Romain GROSJEAN Haas F1 Team+1.515 2
18 Antonio GIOVINAZZI Alfa Romeo Racing+1.627 2
19 Nicholas LATIFI Williams+1.815 2
20 Kevin MAGNUSSEN Haas F1 Team+1.991 3

15.19 Both Ferrari qualify in Q2. This is a surprise considering how bad the weekend has been for both so far.

15.18 Vettel in P13 and Leclerc goes into P15. The Monegasque is at risk.

15.18 Leclerc improves his time and takes P12 at the moment.

15.16 They are all slower now because they want to avoid to concede any advantage to their opponents.

15.16 The last two minutes and both Ferrari are at risk.

15.14 Except Latifi, the cars eliminated in Q1 at the moment all have Ferrari engine.

15.13 Leclerc at the moment is 0.3 faster than his teammate.

15.12 Verstappen improves his time and takes P3 but he is still 0.874 behind Hamilton.

15.11 Standings with 6 minutes left in Q1:

1 Lewis HAMILTON Mercedes1:42.323 1
2 Valtteri BOTTAS Mercedes+0.211 1
3 Daniel RICCIARDO Renault+0.986 1
4 Carlos SAINZ McLaren+0.999 1
5 Max VERSTAPPEN Red Bull Racing+1.085 1
6 Alexander ALBON Red Bull Racing+1.095 1
7 Lance STROLL Racing Point+1.132 1
8 Pierre GASLY AlphaTauri+1.152 1
9 Esteban OCON Renault+1.182 1
10 Sergio PEREZ Racing Point+1.187 1
11 Lando NORRIS McLaren+1.191 1
12 Daniil KVYAT AlphaTauri+1.553 1
13 George RUSSELL Williams+1.819 1
14 Charles LECLERC Ferrari+1.905 1
15 Antonio GIOVINAZZI Alfa Romeo Racing+1.951 1
16 Nicholas LATIFI Williams+1.976 1
17 Kimi RÄIKKÖNEN Alfa Romeo Racing+1.994 1
18 Sebastian VETTEL Ferrari+2.231 1
19 Romain GROSJEAN Haas F1 Team+2.750 1
20 Kevin MAGNUSSEN Haas F1 Team+3.054 2

15.10 Leclerc in P14 and Vettel in P17, the latter is 2″231 behind Hamilton. BOTH FERRARI AT RISK!

15.10 Hamilton takes the lead in 1’42″323, followed by Bottas  +0.211 and Ricciardo +0.986.

15.08 Leclerc is in P9, 0.9 behind Sainz. Only Haas has done worse than Ferrari.

15.08 Sainz takes the lead in 1’43″322! He is 0.086 faster than Verstappen.

15.07 Verstappen’s lap is in 1’43″408 and takes the lead for the moment. Very close Gasly who is only 0.067 behind.

15.05 Mercedes is on track too. They all have soft tyres.

15.04 Ferrari and Verstappen are on track.

15.03 1’45″073 the time for Grosjean who is 0.3 faster than Magnussen.

15.02 Both Magnussen and Grosjean have soft tyres and are already completing a timed lap.

15.00 Both Hass immediately on track.

15.00 Q1 lasts 18 minutes, the last 5 drivers of the 20 will not move forward in the qualifying and will start from P15 to P20 tomorrow.

15.00 Q1 starting now!

14.57 For Ferrari today there is the risk to be eliminated with both cars in Q1. It is clear that the SF1000 is not a competitive car but the team needs to figure something out to be more competitive next year.

14.55 Max Verstappen will need to fight for the third position with the Racing Point cars.

14.52 Mercedes is the favourite for the pole position. This is the last race where all teams can use the so-called “party-mode”, the different engine setting to use during qualifying.

14.49 In 48  occasions (75%) the winner started from the top three positions.

14.48 in 25 occasions (39,1%) the winner of the Belgian GP started from the pole position.

14.47 At the moment, the sky is cloudy over the Spa track, but there are only 30 per cent chances of rain during the qualifying session.

14.46 Lewis Hamilton is the driver who gained the highest number of pole positions on this track, 5 pole position for him. Among the drivers in F1 this year, Raikkonen (2007), Vettel (2011) and Leclerc (2019) all gained one pole position.

14.45 From the perspective of the teams, Ferrari won 18 times. Among the teams currently in F1, there are other six teams who won in Belgium: McLaren (14), Williams (4), Mercedes (4), Red Bull (3), Alfa Romeo (2), and Renault (1).

14.43 There are five drivers among the current starting grid who have won in Belgium. Kimi Raikkonen won four times (2004, 2005, 2007, 2009). The following drivers won three times: Lewis Hamilton (2010, 2013, 2018) and Sebastian Vettel (2011, 2013, 2018). Lastly, both Daniel Ricciardo and Charles Leclerc won one time, respectively in 2014 and 2019.

14.42 Schumacher does not have the record of most victories in a row, that one belongs to Jim Clark and Ayrton Senna, who both won for four times in a row. The forme won from 1962 to 1965, the latter won from 1988 to 1991.

14.41 The driver with most wins at Spa-Francorchamps is Michael Schumacher who won 6 times (1992, 1995, 1996, 1997, 2001, 2002).

14.40 Welcome to the live updates of the Belgian GP. Qualifying session starts at 15.00.

Good afternoon and welcome to the LIVE updates of the qualifying of the Belgian GP, the seventh round of F1 2020. At Spa-Francorchamps, the drivers and the teams will try to maximise the performance of their cars.

The favourite for the pole-position is Mercedes, once again. Yesterday, the team focused more on race pace as they are sure to have efficient qualifying settings. Therefore the front row seems to be a Mercedes monopoly; however, Max Verstappen can challenge the Mercedes as he set the fastest time during FP2 yesterday. The Red Bull driver appears to be remarkably fast in sector 2, where the balance of the car and the downforce make the difference.

Ferrari continues to struggle in this year championship. Charles Leclerc and Sebastian Vettel have finished, respectively, 15° and 17°. The top-ten for the Italian team seems very complicated to reach this weekend.

OA Sport offers the LIVE updates of the qualifying of the Belgian GP, the seventh race of F1 2020: real-time and minute by minute updates not to miss anything. Qualifying starts at 15.00. Enjoy!

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Photo Credit: LaPresse