SPA-FRANCORCHAMPS, Belgium DPA - Formula One world champion Lewis Hamilton grabbed his sixth successive pole position by dominating in qualifying for the Belgian Grand Prix on Saturday.
Hamilton set a quickest lap time of one minute 47.197 seconds around the 7.004-kilometre track at Spa-Francorchamps to best Mercedes team-mate Nico Rosberg and claim his 10th pole from 11 races this season.
The Briton is now in the ideal position to extend his lead in the world championship in Sunday's race. Rosberg trailed by a massive 0.458 seconds while Valtteri Bottas of Williams took third.
Lotus's Romain Grosjean took a surprise fourth place ahead of Sergio Perez in a Force India, though Perez will improve to the second row as Grosjean is to be penalized five places for replacing his gearbox.
Daniel Ricciardo (Red Bull), Felipe Massa (Williams), Pastor Maldanado (Lotus), Sebastian Vettel (Ferrari) and Carlos Sainz (Toro Rosso) completed the top 10.
Hamilton, searching for a third world title, leads the season standings on 202 points, with Rosberg on 181 and Vettel on 160.
Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen came to a halt on the track during the second session with a red flag breaking the action when he was yet to set a time. He qualified 14th while Toro Rosso's Max Verstappen, who did not drive in Q2, was 15th Nico Huelkenberg of Force India, Toro Rosso's Daniil Kvyat and Sauber's Marcus Ericsson took spots 11-13.
Felipe Nasr in the other Sauber, McLaren pair Jenson Button and Fernando Alonso, and Manor duo Will Stevens and Roberto Merhi were eliminated in the first session.
However, Button and Alonso knew they will start from the back of the grid Sunday after accepting massive penalties to allow Honda to replace various engine components.
Verstappen also drops to 18th as the result of a 10-place penalty for taking his sixth power unit of the season.
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