• Latest
  • Trending

Hamilton eases to pole, Ricciardo stars for Renault

August 30, 2020

“Auckland Speedway isn’t ending — It’s moving” $11M Waikaraka Park overhaul on track

July 4, 2025
Louis Sharp, Rodin Motorsport. FIA Formula 3 Championship - Round 6 - Spielberg, Red Bull Ring, Spielberg, Austria.

Louis Sharp excited to be racing on familiar ‘home’ ground at Silverstone

July 4, 2025

Motorsport Diary: Kiwis racing overseas this weekend

July 4, 2025

Mega Motorsport – Pro Series Round 1 Results

July 4, 2025

Steady progress for Kiwi Ayrton Hodson in competitive TA2 Australia round at Queensland Raceway

July 3, 2025

North Island Endurance Series announces 2026 dates & venues

July 3, 2025

Van Gisbergen and McLaughlin race Legends at Charlotte Ahead of busy weekend

July 3, 2025

‘Fastest crash of my career’ — Buchanan survives 245km/h tangle with Nicola Carraro

July 2, 2025

Opinion: One Truth, Two Stories – Lawson’s rise & Red Bull’s excuses

July 2, 2025

Suárez and Trackhouse to part ways—What it means for Shane van Gisbergen’s NASCAR future

July 2, 2025

Strong Start, Bitter End: Quinn and McCutcheon’s promising weekend undone by engine woes at Queensland Raceway

July 1, 2025
Friday, July 4, 2025
VelocityNews
Subscribe
  • International
    • Formula 1
    • Formula 2
    • Formula 3
    • Formula E
    • Esports
    • Super GT
    • Super Formula
    • TCR
    • WEC
    • GT
    • Porsche Carrera Cup
    • BTCC
    • DTM
    • IMSA
    • IndyCar
    • Road to Indy
    • NASCAR
    • WRC
    • MotoGP
    • Motorcycle Racing
    • Historic Racing
  • New Zealand
    • Toyota Formula Regional
    • Toyota GR86 Championship
    • Rally
    • Speedway
    • Drifting
    • Formula Ford
    • Formula First
    • TCR NZ
    • TransTasman V8 Series
    • V8 Utes
    • GT New Zealand Championship
    • GTRNZ
    • Central Muscle Cars
    • Pirelli Porsche
    • Mazda Racing Series
    • NZ Endurance Championship
    • NIERDC
    • SIERDC
    • Pro8 South Island Series
    • SsangYong Utes
    • Kartsport
    • NZ Historic Racing
    • NZ General
  • Australia
    • Supercars
    • Super2
    • Australian V8 Touring Car Series
    • Porsche Carrera Cup Australia
    • Porsche Sprint Challenge
    • S5000
    • Australian GT
    • TCR AU
  • Features
    • Features
    • Opinion
    • Profile
    • Race Cars
  • Circuit News
  • Velocity TV
  • Performance Cars
  • Jobs
    • Jobs
    • Post a Job
    • Job Dashboard
No Result
View All Result
VelocityNews
No Result
View All Result

Hamilton eases to pole, Ricciardo stars for Renault

by Zane Shackleton
August 30, 2020
in Formula 1, International, News
0

Lewis Hamilton was in another dimension in qualifying for the Belgian Grand Prix with a dazzling final lap smashing the Spa-Francorchamps lap record and thumping teammate Valtteri Bottas by over half-a-second to claim his 93rd career pole.

Red Bull had hoped the pace suggested by Max Verstappen in the second free practice would translate into a competitive outing in qualifying around a circuit everyone expected to be dominated by the Silver Arrows.

But despite being one of only three drivers to ease through Q2 on the medium tyre, setting them up for the ideal race strategy tomorrow, Verstappen was unable to topple either Mercedes who locked out the front row for the first time at Spa since 2015.

“I didn’t make any mistakes on all of the laps,” said pole-sitter Hamilton, “but the Q3 run one lap was ace and I was thinking there’s probably no way I’m going to beat that.

“But Turn 1’s probably been a weakness for me for the last few years and I just got stronger and stronger through there. I saw that I was up out of Turn 1 and then I just kept eking away throughout the lap, so that was a very, very good lap, so I’m happy with that.”

Bottas will start a career-high second at the Belgian venue but a scrappy Q3 meant he only marginally edged out Verstappen on his final lap by 0.015s.

A brilliant lap by Daniel Ricciardo meant he was able to split the two Red Bulls in his R.S.20 and will start on the second row. The Australian was the lead driver behind the Mercedes duo after the first Q3 runs, but a late improvement by Verstappen demoted the Renault to the inside of the second row.

Behind, Alex Albon was unable to improve on his final timed lap but still ended up and impressive fifth ahead of Esteban Ocon who excelled for Renault to secure the team’s best qualifying performance since the Italian Grand  Prix last year.

Carlos Sainz had an untidy final lap but still ended up above the two Racing Points who failed to demonstrate their promising pace from free practice with Sergio Perez beating out teammate Lance Stroll to finish 8th and 9th, while Lando Norris completed the top ten.

Ferrari only barely squeezed themselves out of an embarrassing double Q1 exit with Charles Leclerc the last driver floating on the fringe of elimination in 15th.

It set the tone for a disastrous Q2 where the Monegasque posted the 13th fastest time with Sebastian Vettel one place behind in 14th. Only the Williams of George Russell who made it to Q2 for the fifth time this season finished behind the Scuderia in their worst team performance since the start of the turbo hybrid era at the 2014 British Grand Prix.

The Belgian Grand Prix often produces one of the most exciting races of the year and gets underway from 1.10 am August 31.

PosDriverTimeGap Q3
1L. Hamilton1:41.252
2V. Bottas1:41.7630.511
3M. Verstappen1:41.7780.526
4D. Ricciardo1:42.0610.809
5A. Albon1:42.2641.012
6E. Ocon1:42.3961.144
7C. Sainz1:42.4381.186
8S. Perez1:42.5321.280
9L. Stroll1:42.6031.351
10L. Norris1:42.6571.405
11D. Kvyat1:42.730
12P. Gasly1:42.745
13C. Leclerc1:42.996
14S. Vettel1:43.261
15G. Russell1:43.468
16K. Raikkonen1:43.743
17R. Grosjean1:43.838
18A. Giovinazzi1:43.950
19N. Latifi1:44.138
20K. Magnussen1:44.314

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
  • About
  • Advertise
  • Privacy & Policy
  • Contact Us

© 2022 VelocityNews - Independent New Zealand and International Motorsport news.

No Result
View All Result
  • International
    • Formula 1
    • Formula 2
    • Formula 3
    • Formula E
    • Esports
    • Super GT
    • Super Formula
    • TCR
    • WEC
    • GT
    • Porsche Carrera Cup
    • BTCC
    • DTM
    • IMSA
    • IndyCar
    • Road to Indy
    • NASCAR
    • WRC
    • MotoGP
    • Motorcycle Racing
    • Historic Racing
  • New Zealand
    • Toyota Formula Regional
    • Toyota GR86 Championship
    • Rally
    • Speedway
    • Drifting
    • Formula Ford
    • Formula First
    • TCR NZ
    • TransTasman V8 Series
    • V8 Utes
    • GT New Zealand Championship
    • GTRNZ
    • Central Muscle Cars
    • Pirelli Porsche
    • Mazda Racing Series
    • NZ Endurance Championship
    • NIERDC
    • SIERDC
    • Pro8 South Island Series
    • SsangYong Utes
    • Kartsport
    • NZ Historic Racing
    • NZ General
  • Australia
    • Supercars
    • Super2
    • Australian V8 Touring Car Series
    • Porsche Carrera Cup Australia
    • Porsche Sprint Challenge
    • S5000
    • Australian GT
    • TCR AU
  • Features
    • Features
    • Opinion
    • Profile
    • Race Cars
  • Circuit News
  • Velocity TV
  • Performance Cars
  • Jobs
    • Jobs
    • Post a Job
    • Job Dashboard

© 2022 VelocityNews - Independent New Zealand and International Motorsport news.