Spa-Francorchamps, Belgium
7.004kms / 4.352 miles
Qualifying Notes
• Valtteri qualified third and Felipe seventh for tomorrow’s Belgian Grand Prix.
• After making it through the first two sessions comfortably, Q3 ended with just 0.148s covering third to seventh.
• A mistake on the final corner cost Felipe time on his final lap.
Weather: Warm and Dry
Temperature Air: 22 – 24°C Track: 38 – 40°C
Q1
V. Bottas: 1:49.026 (4th)
F. Massa: 1:49.688 (14th)
Quickest Time, L. Hamilton 1:48.908
Q2
V. Bottas: 1:49.044 (9th)
F. Massa: 1:48.806 (5th)
Quickest Time, N. Rosberg 1:47.955
Q3
V. Bottas: 1:48.537 (3rd)
F. Massa: 1:48.685 (7th)
Quickest time, L. Hamilton: 1:47.197
Rob Smedley, Head of Performance Engineering: We chipped away at the session and came to the fore when it really mattered. It wasn’t the cleanest session for Felipe as we had to re-programme the car at the start of Q1 which delayed him getting on track, but he recovered well. Valtteri drove a very strong lap to get himself into third. Looking at our championship rivals we have had a great qualifying. Both drivers have done really well, we now need to convert this into some good points tomorrow.
Valtteri Bottas: I am very pleased with the result and it’s good to be back in the top three. The team did everything right, it was up to me to put it all together. Behind me it was very tight so to be on top of that pack is great. P3 is a good place to start tomorrow, the race pace looks on par with quite a few of the teams around us, so it will be a fight, but one I am really looking forward to.
Felipe Massa: I lost a bit of time in the final sector and looking at the result it cost me a few positions, it was that close. It is frustrating but it is a long race and the circuit can hold so many surprises, one being the weather! We need to make sure we have a good start and gain as many positions as possible and then continue to build from there.
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