Hamilton 'drives to perfection' for Boseman

SPA • Having triumphed here three times previously, Lewis Hamilton showed why he is the favourite to win the Belgian Grand Prix by putting Mercedes on pole.

The six-time Formula One champion and championship leader could not be caught in qualifying yesterday, outpacing teammate Valterri Bottas in second, while Red Bull's Max Verstappen was third, ahead of Daniel Ricciardo of Renault.

He delivered two successive record-breaking qualifying laps to claim his sixth Belgian Grand Prix pole and a record-extending 93rd of his career with a flawless demonstration of speed.

The Briton clocked a best lap of one minute and 41.252 seconds in the final seconds of a session that he dominated. It was a personal tribute to Hollywood actor and the star of Marvel blockbuster Black Panther, Chadwick Boseman, who died on Friday after a four-year battle with colon cancer.

It was Hamilton's fifth pole in seven races this year, a feat he said he had wanted to achieve in memory of the 43-year-old American, whose life had been an inspiration to him.

"This is a really important pole for me because I woke up to the saddest news of Chadwick passing away... It has been such a heavy year for all of us, so it rocked me," he said.

"I wanted to go out there and drive to perfection because of what he has done for our people and how he has shown young (black) kids what is possible. Wakanda forever.

"Today was a very, very clean session for me and the end of the lap was getting better and better. We did such a lot of work for this in the background."

Last year's winners Ferrari, however, suffered a disappointing session with both drivers unable to make the top 10.

Charles Leclerc, who claimed his maiden F1 victory in Spa last year, was 13th and four-time champion Sebastian Vettel a further slot behind.

Team boss Mattia Binotto had warned on Friday that Ferrari faced a host of issues at the long, demanding and high-speed Spa-Francorchamps circuit and so it proved.

The Scuderia have struggled this year with a power deficit to their rivals, but Binotto revealed speed was only one of their problems, amid a struggle to warm up their tyres and find balance.

"We are lacking grip, both in braking and acceleration. There is no overall performance to the car," the Italian said.

"So certainly, the drivers are complaining about grip, overall grip. It's the same situation on both cars, so it's not driver related. It's really the way we set up the car in order to find the right window on the tyres."

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, REUTERS

1 Lewis Hamilton (Gbr) Mercedes

2 Valtteri Bottas (Fin) Mercedes

3 Max Verstappen (Ned) Red Bull

4 Daniel Ricciardo (Aus) Renault

5 Alex Albon (Tha) Red Bull

6 Esteban Ocon (Fra) Renault

7 Carlos Sainz (Esp) McLaren

8 Sergio Perez (Mex)

Racing Point

9 Lance Stroll (Can) Racing Point

10 Lando Norris (Gbr) McLaren

13 Charles Leclerc (Mon) Ferrari

14 Sebastian Vettel (Ger) Ferrari

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