Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes, Spa-Francorchamps, 2018

2018 Belgian Grand Prix grid

2018 Belgian Grand Prix

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Lewis Hamilton leads the official grid for the 2018 Belgian Grand Prix.

Row 11. Lewis Hamilton 1’58.179
Mercedes
2. Sebastian Vettel 1’58.905
Ferrari
Row 23. Esteban Ocon 2’01.851
Force India
4. Sergio Perez 2’01.894
Force India
Row 35. Romain Grosjean 2’02.122
Haas
6. Kimi Raikkonen 2’02.671
Ferrari
Row 47. Max Verstappen 2’02.769
Red Bull
8. Daniel Ricciardo 2’02.939
Red Bull
Row 59. Kevin Magnussen 2’04.933
Haas
10. Pierre Gasly 1’43.844
Toro Rosso
Row 611. Brendon Hartley 1’43.865
Toro Rosso
12. Charles Leclerc 1’44.062
Sauber
Row 713. Marcus Ericsson 1’44.301
Sauber
14. Fernando Alonso 1’44.917
McLaren
Row 815. Sergey Sirotkin 1’44.998
Williams
16. Lance Stroll 1’45.134
Williams
Row 917. Valtteri Bottas* No time
Mercedes
18. Nico Hulkenberg** No time
Renault
Row 1019. Carlos Sainz Jnr* 1’44.489
Renault
20. Stoffel Vandoorne* 1’45.307
McLaren

*Sent to the back of the grid for power unit change
**Sent to the back of the grid for power unit change and five-place grid penalty for turbo change

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Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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45 comments on “2018 Belgian Grand Prix grid”

  1. This is excruciating for Ferrari supporters. Seriously, it hurts.

    1. What? Not having Hamilton in their car ?

    2. Also seems like the stars are aligning for Lewis this year. Maybe there really is something to this #blessed talk… Poor Kimi especially. Do we know why he couldn’t go out at the end of the session? Fuel?

      1. Kimi and the two red bulls too @hugh11, RBR thought it would get worse so went for it early, but were wrong; I think Kimi just was a victim of Ferrari confusion #Kiminotblessed?

        1. I mean, if you were to list the drivers in order of blessedness, Kimi would probably be last, so your idea holds…

          1. Kimi spent all of his life’s remaining blessedness almost eleven years ago…

      2. Kimi confirmed in the post quali interview that he had no fuel. What a shame.

  2. Great for RPFI, but a shame for Kimi.

  3. That was bloody brilliant! But can someone confirm if Mercedes is running more wing than Ferrari. They consistently were quicker in S2, but slower in S1 and S3? If that is the case, it certainly wouldn’t have hurt them, but it very well might hurt them on the run to Les Combes on lap 1. Vettel has challenged Hamilton into Les Combes on lap 1 in 2013, 2014 and 2017. Time for round 4?

    1. i think this round we might get vettel ahead, 1: better starts, probably 2: better straight speed, unlike the weak renault engine in his redbull days or the ferrari last year who was mostly quick on narrow and slow corners..

  4. Feel the rain kind of ruined that a bit, Was looking like it was going to be a tight session in the but in the rain Lewis got it quite easily.

    It gave Force India a shot at the 2nd row but with DRS as powerful as it always is here there going to be easily passed by the faster guys tomorrow so it won’t mean anything. A decade ago maybe it would be more interesting but in modern F1 it means nothing as you know there both going backwards pretty quickly with little opportunity to defend.

  5. “The job did a fantastic guys” – Esteban Ocon, 2018.

    1. @mashiat

      Hahahaha. Silly slip up. Man was he happy.

    2. LOL tbf English isn’t his 1st language.

  6. Disaster for McLaren. Worst car of the year. And Honda is probably more powerful than Renault. Selfishness led to this situation.

    1. Right now I think Mclaren still wish they are running the Honda engine so they can mall their awful car and simply blame the Japanese.

      1. Zak Brown claimed to @dieterrencken that he’s thankful that excuse isn’t available anymore I think.

    2. The Skeptic (@)
      25th August 2018, 15:23

      How the mighty have fallen!

  7. Ferrari and RB both screwed up their timing? Not enough room for final lap..

    1. Ferrari? Vettel did 3 laps.

      1. Only for Kimi then I guess

    2. Fudge Kobayashi (@)
      25th August 2018, 15:24

      Nope, Vettel just killed his lap completely at the bus stop. He had enough opportunity to get pole.

  8. Ocon’s 3rd place has to be a form of middle finger to the news of Stroll getting his berth. Great quali, thumbs up to Hamilton, both FI drivers and Grosjean.

  9. that was a bit anticlimactic thanks to the rain.

    if it had stayed dry that would have been a fantastic end to q3 given how closely matched the Ferrari & Mercedes were with the red bull’s not too far back. but in the wet it got a lot more strung out and there wasn’t really any tension at the end with kimi & the red bull’s in the pits & lewis getting such a big advantage.

    shame.

  10. Rain came at the worst time there and ruined what could have been a truly exciting session given how close it was looking in Q2.

    Wish it could have stayed dry so we got to see a proper exciting battle for pole.

  11. Weird that nobody from McLaren started to shout “Formula Renault engine! Formula Renault engine!”

    1. Hahaha
      I think no one will believe them this time.

  12. Polesitter starts from the right Hand side ????

  13. Thomas Bennett (@felipemassadobrasil)
    25th August 2018, 15:28

    Just want to clear something up:
    What on earth happened to the RBs? They looked good for a while and Ben Edwards was talking up Verstappens chances then just seemed to disappear. Any explanation?

    1. Low downforce package didn’t work in the wet conditions & then they also didn’t put enough fuel in the cars to keep running until the end of the session so they missed the best of the conditions.

      1. Thomas Bennett (@felipemassadobrasil)
        25th August 2018, 15:57

        Thank you

  14. The Skeptic (@)
    25th August 2018, 15:30

    The rain mixed that up nicely. So many decisions under pressure!

    1. Slicks or inters? Red Bull tried their luck on slicks for their first lap… and failed.

    2. How much fuel? Red Bull & Raikkonen didn’t put in enough juice and lost their chance at the drying track.

    3. How hard to push? Lewis went too slow (lap 1), too fast (lap 2) and then nailed it on lap 3. Other than Vettel, no one else came even close to getting this right…

  15. Well that was interesting. I’m going for a Perez podium tomorrow, fingers crossed. Other observations: Ferrari are very very dozy on the strategy front, Red Bull likewise, FI’s timing was strange sending their faster driver all weekend (Perez) out second both times in Q3 which caused him to have one lap less than Ocon. Disappointing for Sauber after their pace this weekend. Also – really enjoyed watching Sirotkin’s last lap, the car might not be great but he seems to be doing a good job in the circumstances. Tough test for Kubica.

  16. The most common sentiment seems to be that rain ruined an otherwise awesome qualifying session, but I don’t share that view. I’m a Hamilton fan but even so, sessions like these are the most exciting to me because it’s really the driver’s game. Until Lewis stitched that last lap together, he wasn’t looking that great. & in the dry the Ferrari had the edge, even though it was really, really tight! When it gets greasy & the better guy pulls one out of the bag, I just can’t argue with it… I couldn’t when Schumacher used to do it, or Senna. I remember a time when Vettel’s Monza win in the Toro Rosso was heralded as a miracle drive that cemented his status as a rain-meister. But now that Lewis is showing them the way when it pours, now rain is suddenly ruining qualifying sessions & races, while drivers are now suddenly “lucky” to win in inclement weather. I find it almost sad… almost…

    1. Strange comments indeed Aldroid. I think, until Ferrari (no matter which driver) win again in the rain, those comments will pop from time to time.

  17. Well all that off track ‘partying’ has definitely distracted Lewis, if only he could show up with 100% commitment.
    Hah, brilliant, who’s the man ?
    @I really wanted Kimi to be on pole…and win.

    1. Momentum is surely with him, @budchekov.

  18. Hamilton beat Vettel fair and square. They were out at the same time and HAM just got it together when it mattered.
    Not my kind of guy, but I seriously respect for his quality as a driver.

  19. Hamilton beat Vettel fair and square. They were out at the same time and HAM just got it together when it mattered.
    Not my kind of guy, but I seriously respect for his quality as a driver.

  20. Anyone seen the speed trap data?

  21. Vettel had a drier/better track at his disposal that LH44 as he was over a minute behind Lewis. So I don’t understand why VET complained on the post qualy interview about the timing? Perhaps he would preferred to be even later?

    1. I think he was referring to traffic. He mentioned that Ocon was not that far away in front of him. @transmix

      1. Aha, that could be it, it didn’t appear on line TV to be in close proximity of another car.

  22. Should Bottas be last considering that have taken the penalty after Hulkenberg’s?

Comments are closed.