Belgian Grand Prix Betting: The post-qualifying verdict

Formula One / James Frankland / 27 August 2011 /

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Mark Webber neatly demonstrates how wet the qualifying session was at Spa

"Picking a winner is a tricky one, but I think Hamilton ([3.25]) might have the edge."

It was wet and wild at Spa but the outcome was the same as ever - Red Bull on pole - whether they will land the win remains open to question, however...

Formula One returned with a splash after a four-week break which gave drivers, engineers and fans alike the chance to pause and catch a breath after an enthralling 11 races. However, there was no sign of the summer sun in Spa as rain disrupted all three practice periods and the first two qualifying sessions. The end result wasn't much different though - it's Sebastian Vettel on pole, finding grip on a drying track to pip Lewis Hamilton by four tenths of a second.

The British driver was involved in a bizarre incident with Williams' Pastor Maldonado at the end of Q2 and at the time of writing it remains to be seen what view the race stewards will take of it. Hamilton bullied his way past the Venezuelan into the Bus Stop chicane at the end of the lap, spoiling Maldonado's run in the process. Maldonado then drew alongside the McLaren at the start of the next lap and the two cars collided, with Hamilton forced to change his front wing and have the right side of his car patched up with gaffer tape in order to compete in Q3.

On his 35th birthday and fresh from announcing an extension to his Red Bull contract, Mark Webber qualified third, having looked like a contender for pole position for most of the session. He lines up ahead of Ferrari's Felipe Massa, out-qualifying Fernando Alonso (eighth) for only the second time this season, with Mercedes' Nico Rosberg in fifth.

I don't normally highlight the drivers in sixth and seventh but Jaime Alguersuari has shown a strong run of form lately with four points finishes in the last five races, and coped admirably with the conditions to start on the third row.

Equally credible but for different reasons is the performance of Bruno Senna, parachuted in by Renault on Wednesday after the team grew weary of Nick Heidfeld's apparent shortcomings. Having only driven the car on three occasions this year, his composure in tricky conditions rewarded him with seventh. Both drivers can be considered for points finishes.

Having seen changeable weather throughout the weekend, Sunday is set to be another mixed day with showers interspersed with sunny periods. That raises the prospect of a safety car deployment - there was a red flag in Saturday practice and again in the second qualifying session - and the odds of the Mercedes appearing, at [1.4], reflect the tricky nature of the track in such conditions.

Picking a winner is a tricky one, but I think Hamilton ([3.25]) might have the edge, assuming the stewards don't see fit to move him backwards on the grid for the Maldonado incident. McLaren have worked hard on maximising the effectiveness of their rear wing for this circuit and we saw in the races prior to the summer break that the Red Bull doesn't carry its qualifying advantage through to races, at least not to the same degree. Vettel ([2.44]) cannot be ruled out, of course, and nor can a fired-up Webber ([7.6]), so it's all eyes to the skies and we'll see who copes best with Spa's notoriously fickle weather...

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