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Championship contender Sebastian Vettel continued his impressive performance at the Japanese Grand Prix with pole position at the Suzuka International Circuit. After setting the fastest time in both Friday’s practice sessions, the German extended his advantage with his eighth pole this season, his first since Hungary.

In fact, the speed of the Renault-powered RB6 around this figure of eight circuit led to a commanding performance from the Milton Keynes-based outfit with team-mate Mark Webber taking second on the grid. The Australian was within a few hundredths of the flying Vettel to form an all-Red Bull Racing front row.

As for Lewis Hamilton, the McLaren driver claimed the ‘best of the rest’ honours with the third quickest time but due to a gearbox change, he will start the Japanese Grand Prix in eighth position.

This five-place grid penalty means that Renault’s Robert Kubica moves up to third. As for Fernando Alonso, the winner at Monza and Singapore, the double world champion lines up in fourth for Ferrari.

The postponed qualifying session made it a challenge for Felipe Massa, as the Brazilian was unable to find speed in Q2 and the best he could manage with only P12.

For Jenson Button, the reigning world champion made a unique choice on the hard compound tyres for Q3 and recorded the fifth fastest time for McLaren.

The Silver Arrows took sixth and tenth with Nico Rosberg four tenths of a second faster than team-mate Michael Schumacher, with a pair of Williams in between – having been second and fourth in Q1. Rubens Barrichello narrowly beat Nico Hulkenberg in the session that matter.

Nick Heidfeld was within touch distance in making it through to Q3 in only his second race appearance with Sauber. His final lap of Q2 was even faster than Schumacher and Massa, although a late improvement by his fellow countryman pushed Heidfeld back down to P11.

Despite that, he still outqualified his team-mate and home favourite Kamui Kobayashi, who looked set to reach the top ten until a slight error at the chicane left the Japanese in P14, alongside Renault’s Vitaly Petrov.

There was no repeat of Toro Rosso’s strong 2009 Suzuka pace. Jaime Alguersuari back in P16 between the Force Indias and his team-mate Sebastien Buemi did not get beyond Q1.

Lotus F1 Racing dominated proceedings in the new teams’ battle, with Jarno Trulli and Heikki Kovalainen nearly a second clear of Virgin Racing, which saw an upset as Lucas di Grassi outqualified team-mate Timo Glock for only the second time all year.

Qualifying times from Suzuka:

1.  Sebastian Vettel    Red Bull     1m30.785s
2.  Mark Webber         Red Bull     1m30.853s
3.  Robert Kubica       Renault      1m31.231s
4.  Fernando Alonso     Ferrari      1m31.352s
5.  Jenson Button       McLaren      1m31.378s
6.  Nico Rosberg        Mercedes     1m31.494s
7.  Rubens Barrichello  Williams     1m31.535s
8.  Lewis Hamilton      McLaren      1m31.169s*
9.  Nico Hulkenberg     Williams     1m31.559s
10. Michael Schumacher  Mercedes     1m31.846s
11. Nick Heidfeld       Sauber       1m32.187s
12. Felipe Massa        Ferrari      1m32.321s
13. Vitaly Petrov       Renault      1m32.422s
14. Kamui Kobayashi     Sauber       1m32.427s
15. Adrian Sutil        Force India  1m32.659s
16. Jaime Alguersuari   Toro Rosso   1m33.071s
17. Vitantonio Liuzzi   Force India  1m33.154s
18. Sebastien Buemi     Toro Rosso   1m33.568s
19. Jarno Trulli        Lotus        1m35.346s
20. Heikki Kovalainen   Lotus        1m35.464s
21. Lucas di Grassi     Virgin       1m36.265s
22. Timo Glock          Virgin       1m36.332s
23. Bruno Senna         Hispania     1m37.270s
24. Sakon Yamamoto      Hispania     1m37.365s

*Five-place grid penalty for gearbox change

Qualifying for the sixteenth round of this dramatic Formula One World Championship has been rescheduled to take place on Sunday morning following torrential rain at the Suzuka International Circuit.

The heavy rain made the conditions for the drivers impossible to go out on track, as fear of losing control due to aquaplaning.

Despite several time delays to try and wait for the weather to improve, the sport governing body (the FIA) decided to postponed the session to Sunday morning.

The qualifying session is now expected to take place at 10.00 am local time to form the 24-car grid for the Japanese Grand Prix – just five hours before the actual race!

This is the second time in five races at Suzuka that qualifying has been postponed to Sunday.

Back in 2004 the approaching typhoon Ma-on led the race organisers to hold qualifying on Sunday instead of Saturday. Ferrari’s Michael Schumacher secured pole position on October 9th followed by a race victory a couple of hours later.

Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso took his second successive victory – his fourth this season – after resisting a race-long challenge from Sebastian Vettel. Red Bull Racing’s team-mate Mark Webber finished in third after surviving a clash with Lewis Hamilton, who was forced to retire with damage to his McLaren.

That crash at Turn 7 on lap 36 with the championship leader has dented Hamilton’s title ambitions dearly. Lewis tried to snatch a position off Mark after a lapped Virgin Racing car of Lucas di Grassi held up his Red Bull Racing rival.

Hamilton slipstream past Webber on the run down to Turn 7 and took an outside line – but his left rear wheel was tagged by his rival on the exit of the corner and he was pushed wide.

Although Webber was able to continue and finish on the podium, the impact damaged Hamilton’s car enough to force him out of the Singapore Grand Prix. Another disappointing result especially when he retire from the previous race at Monza.

For Mark Webber, finishing in third was the best reward following a row three qualifying spot. The Australian still leads the drivers’ championship with 202 points, eleven ahead of race winner Alonso, twenty over Hamilton and twenty-one from team-mate Vettel.

Alonso’s win proved to the relatively straightforward – lights to chequered flag – but with two safety car periods and Vettel never far behind the Spaniard, it was a great result for the double world champion after nearly two hours of intense racing.

The pair even came into the pits at the same time for a single pit stop and their track position remained unchanged to the flag.

Webber’s third place owed much to a tyre gamble when the safety car came out on lap three to remove Tonio Liuzzi’s stricken Force India from the circuit. The Red Bull Racing pitwall decided to gamble and bring in the Australian from fifth to change to the harder Bridgestone tyre – with Webber being the only one of the frontrunners to do so.

He returned to the track in P11 and over the laps that followed regained enough lost ground that Webber was able to leapfrog the McLarens in the pits. Hamilton later had an opportunity to get the position back on a race restart – following a safety car appearance caused when Kamui Kobayashi and Bruno Senna collided at Turn 18 – but heading into Turn 7 the Red Bull and McLaren made contact.

The only consolation for McLaren was Jenson Button finishing in fourth, ahead of Mercedes GP’s Nico Rosberg. As for Rosberg’s team-mate Michael Schumacher, he had a difficult race after clashing with both Saubers and coming home a lap down in unlucky P13.

For Williams, both Rubens Barrichello and Nico Hulkenberg finished in the points with sixth and ninth respectively. The pair being split by Renault’s Robert Kubica – who made some spectacular overtaking moves in the final laps thanks to fresh tyres – and Force India’s Adrian Sutil.

After starting last on the grid, Felipe Massa drove a solid race to claim the final point for Ferrari in tenth.

In the battle between the second division of Formula One, Lucas di Grassi finished two laps down in P15 for Virgin Racing while Heikki Kovalainen was classified P16 even though his Lotus burst into flames on the main straight near the end.

Alonso’s victory means he is now within 11 points of Webber with four races remaining. The 15 points the Australian scored on Sunday should be credited to the strength of his front wheel and could be the factor in the outcome of this world championship.

Race result from Singapore, 61 laps:

1.  Alonso        Ferrari                    1h57:53.579
2.  Vettel        Red Bull-Renault           +0.293
3.  Webber        Red Bull-Renault           +29.141
4.  Button        McLaren-Mercedes           +30.384
5.  Rosberg       Mercedes                   +49.394
6.  Barrichello   Williams-Cosworth          +56.101
7.  Kubica        Renault                    +1:26.559
8.  Sutil         Force India-Mercedes       +1:52.416
9.  Hulkenberg    Williams-Cosworth          +1:52.791
10. Massa         Ferrari                    +1:53.297
11. Petrov        Renault                    +1 lap
12. Alguersuari   Toro Rosso-Ferrari         +1 lap
13. Schumacher    Mercedes                   +1 lap
14. Buemi         Toro Rosso-Ferrari         +1 lap
15. Di Grassi     Virgin-Cosworth            +2 laps
16. Kovalainen    Lotus-Cosworth             +3 laps

Fastest lap: Alonso, 1:47.976

Not classified/retirements:
Glock         Virgin-Cosworth              51 laps
Heidfeld      Sauber-Ferrari               35 laps
Hamilton      McLaren-Mercedes             34 laps
Klien         HRT-Cosworth                 30 laps
Kobayashi     Sauber-Ferrari               29 laps
Senna         HRT-Cosworth                 28 laps
Trulli        Lotus-Cosworth               26 laps
Liuzzi        Force India-Mercedes         1 lap

World Championship standings, round 15:

Drivers:
1.  Webber       202
2.  Alonso       191
3.  Hamilton     182
4.  Vettel       181
5.  Button       177
6.  Massa        125
7.  Rosberg      122
8.  Kubica       114
9.  Sutil         49
10. Schumacher    46
11. Barrichello   39
12. Kobayashi     21
13. Petrov        19
14. Hulkenberg    18
15. Liuzzi        13
16. Buemi          7
17. De la Rosa     6
18. Alguersuari    3

Constructors:
1. Red Bull-Renault          383
2. McLaren-Mercedes          359
3. Ferrari                   316
4. Mercedes                  168
5. Renault                   133
6. Force India-Mercedes       62
7. Williams-Cosworth          57
8. Sauber-Ferrari             27
9. Toro Rosso-Ferrari         10

Next race: Japanese Grand Prix, Suzuka. October 8-10.

Fernando Alonso recovered from an engine issue in Q2 to take an important pole position for Ferrari at the Singapore Grand Prix.

The double world champion encountered a problem with the engine mapping resulting in a loss of performance. After a system reboot, the Ferrari was back up to speed and the Spaniard rewarded the team with his second successive pole.

Alonso fended off a strong challenge from pre-race favourite Sebastian Vettel – who looked all weekend the quickest in the Red Bull – but the young German had to be content with second on the grid.

Vettel began his final flying lap in a provisional seventh place after making a mistake earlier in Q3, and despite being comfortably up on Alonso’s time through the first sector, he faded over the remainder of the lap and was left in second position, 0.067 seconds down on his rival’s best time of one minute, 45.390 seconds.

While the Scuderia celebrated Alonso’s pole, it was a complete contrast for team-mate Felipe Massa. The Brazilian will start from the back of the grid following a suspected engine problem during Q1.

Locking out the second row is the McLaren Mercedes team, with Lewis Hamilton taking third ahead of Jenson Button. Last year’s race winner Hamilton should be feeling pretty encouraged to be only a tenth of a second adrift from Vettel’s faster Red Bull.

As for the world championship leader Mark Webber, the Australian is disappointed to line up fifth in the Red Bull.

Rubens Barrichello lines up sixth for Williams ahead of Nico Rosberg in the Silver Arrows and Renault’s Robert Kubica. For Michael Schumacher – competing in his first appearance at the Singapore street circuit – the Mercedes GP driver will start in ninth with Sauber’s Kamui Kobayashi rounded out the top ten.

In the battle of the second division of Formula One, Virgin Racing took the honours with Timo Glock taking P18, with a late challenge from Lotus Racing’s Heikki Kovalainen allowing the Finn to get ahead of Lucas di Grassi.

Jarno Trulli lines up in P21 ahead of Formula One returnee Christian Klien, who left his HRT team-mate Bruno Senna behind to join Massa on the back row.

As for Nico Hulkenberg, who recorded the twelfth fastest lap time, the Williams driver will start from P17 due to a five-place grid penalty after a gearbox change.

So with the five championship contenders at the sharp end of the grid, Sunday’s race around Marina Bay is going to be exciting and dramatic. There may even be a chance of rain! Only 24 points split the top five drivers and with 25 points up for grabs for the race victory, who will it be? We will find out after 61 laps under the bright lights in Singapore.

Qualifying times from Singapore:

1.  Alonso         Ferrari                1:45.390
2.  Vettel         Red Bull-Renault       1:45.457
3.  Hamilton       McLaren-Mercedes       1:45.571
4.  Button         McLaren-Mercedes       1:45.944
5.  Webber         Red Bull-Renault       1:45.977
6.  Barrichello    Williams-Cosworth      1:46.236
7.  Rosberg        Mercedes               1:46.443
8.  Kubica         Renault                1:46.593
9.  Schumacher     Mercedes               1:46.702
10. Kobayashi      Sauber-Ferrari         1:47.884
11. Alguersuari    Toro Rosso-Ferrari     1:47.666
12. Petrov         Renault                1:48.165
13. Buemi          Toro Rosso-Ferrari     1:48.502
14. Heidfeld       Sauber-Ferrari         1:48.557
15. Sutil          Force India-Mercedes   1:48.899
16. Liuzzi         Force India-Mercedes   1:48.961
17. Hulkenberg     Williams-Cosworth      1:47.674*
18. Glock          Virgin-Cosworth        1:50.721
19. Kovalainen     Lotus-Cosworth         1:50.915
20. di Grassi      Virgin-Cosworth        1:51.107
21. Trulli         Lotus-Cosworth         1:51.641
22. Klien          HRT-Cosworth           1:52.946
23. Senna          HRT-Cosworth           1:54.174
24. Massa          Ferrari                No time

*Five-place grid penalty for gearbox change

Fernando Alonso took his third Grand Prix victory of the season at Monza, a fantastic result for the Spaniard (pole position, fastest lap and win) and the Ferrari team (home victory). McLaren’s Jenson Button finished in second with Felipe Massa taking the final podium spot.

By winning in front of the passionate tifosi, the championship standings means Alonso is now up to 166 points, only twenty-one points behind new leader Mark Webber with 187.

As for Lewis Hamilton, he tried an ambitions move on Massa’s Ferrari on the first lap, which damaged his right-front suspension. That mistake might play an effect in the remaining five Grands Prix of the season.

As the five red lights went out, Button made a better start from the dirty side of the grid. Alonso tried to block him by squeezing the reigning world champion but the McLaren was through. Even a slight tap from the Ferrari at the Rettifilio – which did minor damage to both cars – didn’t affect Jenson desire to lead.

As Alonso jinked around behind the McLaren, both Massa and Hamilton tried to take advantage. Hamilton took a look down the inside of Massa into the Roggia chicane, but was only partially alongside the Ferrari, and as Massa turned in on the racing line, contact was made that broke Hamilton’s steering, sending him off into the Lesmo gravel and out.

The only consolation for Hamilton was that his main championship rival Webber had been shoved back to ninth on the opening lap, two position behind Red Bull Racing team-mate Vettel, as fast-starters Nico Rosberg, Robert Kubica and Nico Hulkenberg filling the top six.

The top three easily pulled away from Rosberg’s Mercedes, with Alonso hanging on to Button’s gearbox and taking the odd look at passing. The pair took turns setting fastest laps around Monza as they tried to make a break, with the gap never getting larger than 1.5 seconds, and generally much smaller, with Massa close behind.

That all-important pitstop would decide the outcome of the race and Button was the first to change tyres at the end of lap 35. Alonso stayed out just one lap longer, but it was enough to overcome Button’s advantage, rejoining just ahead of the McLaren and taking the inside line through the Rettifilio to hold on to the lead, setting a new fastest lap to escape from Button.

Despite reporting engine problems earlier, Sebastian Vettel emerged in a surprising fourth. In the early part of the Italian Grand Prix it looked like he was set to retire, as the German was reporting the technical problem over the radio and lapped two seconds off the pace for a while, which allowed team-mate Webber past. But some system tweaks appeared to solve the issue, and by virtue of staying out until the penultimate lap before finally pitting, Vettel beat Rosberg to fourth position.

Webber had to fight hard to take sixth position, scrapping past Hulkenberg with three laps to go, having been enraged by the Williams cutting chicanes and defending firmly to stay ahead. Kubica lost out to the Williams in the pits, then to Webber as Hulkenberg came out right in front of him and cost him momentum, pushing him back to eighth.

Michael Schumacher and Rubens Barrichello completed the top ten for Mercedes and Williams respectively. As for the 2009 race winner, Rubens Barrichello lost ground on the first lap and only gained the final point when Renault’s Vitaly Petrov – on a similar strategy to Vettel – finally pitted on lap 51.

Tonio Liuzzi recovered from his disastrous qualifying to chase Sebastien Buemi and Barrichello home in P12. But Liuzzi’s Force India Adrian Sutil could only finish P16 following a first lap incident.

Virgin Racing’s Timo Glock narrowly beat Heikki Kovalainen to new team honours in P17, as the latter’s Lotus team-mate Jarno Trulli retired in a cloud of smoke late on, having led the second division for most of the way.

Webber now leads the world championship again with 187 points to Hamilton’s 182, but Alonso’s great drive vaults him to third on 166, just ahead of Button on 165 and Vettel on 163. Red Bull have 350 points to McLaren’s 347 and Ferrari’s 290.

Race results from Monza, 53 laps:
1. Alonso        Ferrari                    1h16:24.572
2. Button        McLaren-Mercedes           +2.938
3. Massa         Ferrari                    +4.223
4. Vettel        Red Bull-Renault           +28.193
5. Rosberg       Mercedes                   +29.942
6. Webber        Red Bull-Renault           +31.276
7. Hulkenberg    Williams-Cosworth          +32.812
8. Kubica        Renault                    +34.028
9. Schumacher    Mercedes                   +44.948
10. Barrichello   Williams-Cosworth         +1:04.200
11. Buemi         Toro Rosso-Ferrari        +1:05.00
12. Liuzzi        Force India-Mercedes      +1:06.100
13. Petrov        Renault                   +1:18.900
14. De la Rosa    Sauber-Ferrari            +1 lap
15. Alguersuari   Toro Rosso-Ferrari        +1 lap
16. Sutil         Force India-Mercedes      +1 lap
17. Glock         Virgin-Cosworth           +2 laps
18. Kovalainen    Lotus-Cosworth            +2 laps
19. Di Grassi     Virgin-Cosworth           +2 laps
20. Yamamoto      HRT-Cosworth              +2 laps

Fastest lap: Alonso, 1:24.139

Not classified/retirements:
Trulli        Lotus-Cosworth               47 laps
Senna         HRT-Cosworth                 12 laps
Hamilton      McLaren-Mercedes             1 lap
Kobayashi     Sauber-Ferrari               1 lap

World Championship standings, round 14:

Drivers:
1.  Webber       187
2.  Hamilton     182
3.  Alonso       166
4.  Button       165
5.  Vettel       163
6.  Massa        124
7.  Rosberg      112
8.  Kubica       108
9.  Schumacher    46
10. Sutil         45
11. Barrichello   31
12. Kobayashi     21
13. Petrov        19
14. Hulkenberg    16
15. Liuzzi        13
16. Buemi          7
17. De la Rosa     6
18. Alguersuari    3

Constructors:
1. Red Bull-Renault          350
2. McLaren-Mercedes          347
3. Ferrari                   290
4. Mercedes                  158
5. Renault                   127
6. Force India-Mercedes       58
7. Williams-Cosworth          47
8. Sauber-Ferrari             27
9. Toro Rosso-Ferrari         10

Next race: Singapore Grand Prix, September 24-26.

Fernando Alonso takes his first pole position as a Ferrari driver at the Italian team’s home race at Monza. It has been two years since the Scuderia started from the front and this result is a great achievement for the Spaniard, the team and especially for the passionate tifosi.

Felipe Massa could not quite make it an all-Ferrari front row, but will start in third, with Jenson Button’s McLaren splitting the red cars. It’s interesting that Button has opted the F-duct system while team-mate Lewis Hamilton decided to go without in a hope for better straight-line speed. The differences between the pair is 12kph, without the aid of the F-duct but meaning loss of stability under braking.

For Red Bull Racing, this was the worst qualifying performance of the season, with Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel back in an unaccustomed fourth and sixth.

As for the championship leader Lewis Hamilton, who has decided to run without the F-duct system, the McLaren driver could only manage fifth.

Seventh went to Mercedes GP’s Nico Rosberg, while his team-mate Michael Schumacher had another mediocre qualifying run and will start in a disappointing P12.

It was a solid performance for Williams with Nico Hulkenberg taking eighth and Rubens Barrichello only two places behind, split by Renault’s Robert Kubica.

In the battle between the new Formula One teams, Lotus and Virgin Racing were evenly matched throughout the qualifying session before some strong last laps earned Jarno Trulli the so-called ‘division two pole’ in P18.

Qualifying times from Monza:
1.  Alonso         Ferrari                 1:21.962
2.  Button         McLaren-Mercedes        1:22.084
3.  Massa          Ferrari                 1:22.293
4.  Webber         Red Bull-Renault        1:22.433
5.  Hamilton       McLaren-Mercedes        1:22.623
6.  Vettel         Red Bull-Renault        1:22.675
7.  Rosberg        Mercedes                1:23.027
8.  Hulkenberg     Williams-Cosworth       1:23.037
9.  Kubica         Renault                 1:23.039
10.  Barrichello    Williams-Cosworth      1:23.328
11.  Sutil          Force India-Mercedes   1:23.199
12.  Schumacher     Mercedes               1:23.388
13.  Kobayashi      Sauber-Ferrari         1:23.659
14.  Buemi          Toro Rosso-Ferrari     1:23.681
15.  Petrov         Renault                1:23.819
16.  Alguersuari    Toro Rosso-Ferrari     1:23.919
17.  de la Rosa     Sauber-Ferrari         1:24.044
18.  Trulli         Lotus-Cosworth         1:25.540
19.  Kovalainen     Lotus-Cosworth         1:25.742
20.  Liuzzi         Force India-Mercedes   1:25.774
21.  Glock          Virgin-Cosworth        1:25.934
22.  di Grassi      Virgin-Cosworth        1:25.974
23.  Senna          HRT-Cosworth           1:26.847
24.  Yamamoto       HRT-Cosworth           1:27.020

Lewis Hamilton takes his third Grand Prix victory of the season at Spa-Francorchamps following an incident-packed race.

The McLaren driver made a great start and despite running off the track during the shower period twice – at the Bus Stop chicane and at Rivage – this victory proved crucial to his championship prospects. He now leads the standings with 182 points, three ahead of Mark Webber, who recovered from a poor getaway to finish in second.

Robert Kubica took an excellent third for Renault but it could have been second. During his final pitstop, the Polish driver slid in the wet pitlane and that mistake cost him three championship points.

At the start, Mark Webber’s anti-stall system kicked-in and that brief moment allowed Lewis Hamilton to take the lead. The Red Bull started in pole position but even before the first corner – La Source – Webber was down to sixth position.

Once in the lead, Lewis Hamilton was never challenged at the front – despite a brief burst of rain that caused him to run off the track at the Bus Stop chicane on the opening lap.

Lewis pulled away from the rest at a rate of more than half a second per lap as the track quickly dried early on. He had an advantage of eleven seconds over Robert Kubica until the heavens open again on lap 35.

Pushing a little too hard on the slicks when the track was wet, the 2008 Formula One world champion slid wide at Rivage and it looked like he was about to retire in the gravel, but luckily he avoided the tyre barrier and was able to drive back on the track.

Lewis pitted for intermediates at the end of that lap, as did the second-placed Renault of Kubica and Webber, who was in third.

Webber emerged in second following a mistake by Kubica. The Renault driver overshot his pitbox and that mistake cost him a handful of seconds while his mechanics attempted to change his tyres.

After a second safety car period – which began on lap 38 when Fernando Alonso crashed out exiting Malmedy – Hamilton was able to pull away from Webber to the chequered flag.

By crashing out, Alonso’s title ambitions has hit a major blow and following his disastrous start to the race in which Rubens Barrichello smashed his Williams on the opening lap, it was unfortunate for the Ferrari driver to retire after fighting his way back up to seventh.

Taking part in his 300th Grand Prix, Rubens Barrichello didn’t even finish the first lap at Spa, after losing control under braking at the Bus Stop chicane and crashing into Alonso.

Both Jenson Button and Sebastian Vettel also had their championship hopes dashed, with the former suffering with front wing damage on the opening lap. That lost in downforce meant Button held a four-car train.

Seeking the opportunity to pass the McLaren, Sebastian Vettel got a run on the reigning world champion exiting Blanchimont on lap 16, but lost control of his Red Bull under braking and slammed into the side of his rival at the Bus Stop chicane – putting Button out of the race.

The young German broke his front wing and had to pit for repairs. He then received a drive-through penalty for causing the incident and later suffered a puncture after colliding with Vitantonio Liuzzi’s Force India on his way to a lapped P15. Not a great result for Sebastian Vettel with five trips to the pits as well…

Through the mayhem came Felipe Massa to take fourth in his Ferrari and Adrian Sutil – after pulling off a superb pass on Michael Schumacher – to fifth in his Force India.

Nico Rosberg was sixth for Mercedes GP after forcing his way by team-mate Michael Schumacher at Les Combes with three laps to the flag. The pair actually made contact in the same corner in the opening part of the Grand Prix.

Sauber’s Kamui Kobayashi, Vitaly Petrov (Renault) and Vitantonio (Force India) completed the top ten.

So heading into the Spa weekend, five drivers were separated by twenty points. After 44 chaotic laps, Lewis Hamilton and Mark Webber took advantage and with six races left, it will be fascinating who will have upper hand with the pair split by three championship points.

Race results from Spa-Francorchamps, 44 laps:

1.  Hamilton      McLaren-Mercedes           1h29m04.268s
2.  Webber        Red Bull-Renault           +1.571
3.  Kubica        Renault                    +3.493
4.  Massa         Ferrari                    +8.264
5.  Sutil         Force India-Mercedes       +9.094
6.  Rosberg       Mercedes                   +12.359
7.  Schumacher    Mercedes                   +15.548
8.  Kobayashi     Sauber-Ferrari             +16.678
9.   Petrov        Renault                    +23.851
10.  Liuzzi        Force India-Mercedes      +34.831
11.  De la Rosa    Sauber-Ferrari            +36.019
12.  Buemi         Toro Rosso-Ferrari        +39.895
13.  Alguersuari   Toro Rosso-Ferrari        +49.457*
14.  Hulkenberg    Williams-Cosworth         +1 lap
15.  Vettel        Red Bull-Renault          +1 lap
16.  Kovalainen    Lotus-Cosworth            +1 lap
17.  Di Grassi     Virgin-Cosworth           +1 lap
18.  Glock         Virgin-Cosworth           +1 lap
19.  Trulli        Lotus-Cosworth            +1 lap
20.  Yamamoto      HRT-Cosworth              +2 laps

*Twenty-second penalty for cutting the chicane

Fastest lap: Hamilton, 1m49.069s

Not classified/retirements:
Alonso        Ferrari                   38 laps
Button        McLaren-Mercedes          16 laps
Senna         HRT-Cosworth               6 laps
Barrichello   Williams-Cosworth          1 lap

World Championship standings, round 13:

Drivers:
1.  Hamilton     182
2.  Webber       179
3.  Vettel       151
4.  Button       147
5.  Alonso       141
6.  Massa        109
7.  Kubica       104
8.  Rosberg      102
9.  Sutil         45
10. Schumacher    44
11. Barrichello   30
12. Kobayashi     21
13. Petrov        19
14. Liuzzi        12
15. Hulkenberg    10
16. Buemi          7
17. De la Rosa     6
18. Alguersuari    4

Constructors:
1. Red Bull-Renault          330
2. McLaren-Mercedes          329
3. Ferrari                   250
4. Mercedes                  146
5. Renault                   123
6. Force India-Mercedes       57
7. Williams-Cosworth          40
8. Sauber-Ferrari             27
9. Toro Rosso-Ferrari         11

Next race: Italian Grand Prix, Monza. September 10-12.

Championship leader Mark Webber takes an important pole position at the magnificent Spa-Francorchamps circuit, setting a time of one minute, 45.778 seconds.

This was Red Bull Racing’s twelfth pole position of the season and the Australian’s fifth. The margin between Webber and McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton was less than a tenth of a second following a rain-affected qualifying session.

Robert Kubica will start in third in the F-duct Renault ahead of Sebastian Vettel. As for Fernando Alonso – who was the fastest in Friday’s two practice sessions – the Ferrari driver will line up tenth on the grid.

The Spaniard lost significant time at the damp La Source hairpin and posted a lap time that was 1.6 seconds slower than Hamilton.

Jenson Button was able to improve his grid position despite the rain at the end of Q3 to demote Felipe Massa down to sixth.

Rubens Barrichello will start seventh for Williams, as he celebrates his 300th grand prix, with Force India’s Adrian Sutil joining the race veteran on row four.

This was a bad qualifying session for Mercedes GP as both drivers were hit with grid penalties. Nico Rosberg in particular will lose five places following a gearbox change after the final practice session leading into qualifying.

As for Michael Schumacher, who made that aggressive move on Rubens at the Hungaroring, the seven-time world champion will start the Belgian Grand Prix in P21.

The first session began with most of the grid queuing up at the exit of the pit lane as they anticipated an incoming rain shower. But as the cars negotiated their out laps Renault’s Vitaly Petrov spun into barriers after exiting Turn 9, which brought out the red flag.

The resulting red flag period delayed the session just long enough for a deluge to hit Rivage and Stavelot on the first flying lap.

Lucas di Grassi, Adrian Sutil and Jarno Trulli all went off at Stavelot, while the McLarens of Hamilton and Button left themselves enough clear track to go straight to the top of the timesheet.

Sebastian Vettel had waited in the pits for 45 seconds longer than everyone else and was only P17 – the circuit much wetter by the time he completed his lap.

But as the track dried in the next ten minutes, that allowed the Silver Arrows and Williams to leap into the top five on slicks at the end of Q1.

The Saubers of Kamui Kobayashi and Pedro de la Rosa also went out on slicks hoping to jump up into Q2, but slid off the road at Rivage and Stavelot respectively and were out.

Di Grassi and Petrov were unable to post times after their incidents, and were joined by Sakon Yamamoto, Bruno Senna and Trulli in being eliminated in Q1.

No more rain fell during the second part of qualifying and it was fascinating to see the drivers adopting different tyre strategies to set the quickest time in the damp and yet drying track.

The McLarens once again made the right call and Hamilton’s first flying lap was an impressive 1.7 seconds faster than anyone else. In fact both Lewis and Jenson were the only cars break into the one minute, 46 second barrier.

As for the Red Bulls, Vettel and Webber recorded a reasonable lap time in order to progress into Q3.

Adrian Sutil, Felipe Massa and Fernando Alonso survived trips off the road early in Q2 but all three were able to take part in the top ten shootout.

The same couldn’t be said to Jaime Alguersuari, Vitantonio Liuzzi and Sebastien Buemi. The trio were eliminated while Heikki Kovalainen pipped Timo Glock to be the quickest of the new teams with P16.

The final qualifying session saw Red Bull Racing’s Mark Webber heading the timesheet with an initial pole position that was four tenths of a second faster than anyone else.

Yet again the weather played a role in the proceeding with a small shower hitting the start/finish line as the drivers were heading out for their second runs.

This was a disaster for Fernando Alonso, who had only managed tenth with his first run and wasn’t able to improve. Team-mate Felipe Massa suffered as well, with his car on the dirt exiting Malmedy.

But the McLarens were able to go quicker with Button in particular able to lap in a time of one minute, 46.206 seconds to knock Massa down to P6.

As for Hamilton, he found another four tenths of a second to join Webber on the front row of the grid, but he missed out on that decisive pole by less than a tenth of a second (pole time: one minute, 45.778 seconds).

Despite the set back, Hamilton is in the best position to take the lead from Webber in Sunday’s race thanks to his powerful Mercedes engine and straight line speed advantage with the F-duct system.

Sunday’s race is going to crucial and it will be fascinating if the element of rain will play a factor in this year’s championship battle.

Qualifying times from Spa-Francorchamps:

1. Webber        Red Bull-Renault      1m45.778s
2. Hamilton      McLaren-Mercedes      1m45.863s
3. Kubica        Renault               1m46.100s
4. Vettel        Red Bull-Renault      1m46.127s
5. Button        McLaren-Mercedes      1m46.206s
6. Massa         Ferrari               1m46.314s
7. Barrichello   Williams-Cosworth     1m46.602s
8. Sutil         Force India-Mercedes  1m46.659s
9. Hulkenberg    Williams-Cosworth     1m47.053s
10. Alonso       Ferrari               1m47.441s
11. Alguersuari  Toro Rosso-Ferrari    1m48.267s
12. Liuzzi       Force India-Mercedes  1m48.680s
13. Buemi        Toro Rosso-Ferrari    1m49.209s
14. Kovalainen   Lotus-Cosworth        1m50.980s
15. Rosberg      Mercedes              1m47.885s*
16. Glock        Virgin-Cosworth       1m52.049s
17. Trulli       Lotus-Cosworth        2m01.491s
18. Kobayashi    Sauber-Ferrari        2m02.284s
19. Senna        HRT-Cosworth          2m03.612s
20. Yamamoto     HRT-Cosworth          2m03.941s
21. Schumacher   Mercedes              1m47.874s**
22. de la Rosa   Sauber-Ferrari        2m05.294s
23. di Grassi    Virgin-Cosworth       2m18.754s
24. Petrov       Renault               no time

*Five-place penalty for a gearbox change
**Ten-place penalty for illegitimately impeding a rival driver during the Hungarian Grand Prix.