SPA-FRANCORCHAMPS, Belgium, September 1 – Jenson Button took his first pole position for McLaren on Saturday when he clocked the fastest time during qualifying for Sunday’s Belgian Grand Prix.
It was the 31-year-old Briton’s first pole in 60 races for the Woking-based team, who endured a tough time, particularly in qualifying during the first half of the season.
The 2009 champion clocked a best lap time of the historic Spa Francorchamps circuit of 1min 47.573sec, edging out Japanese Kamui Kobayashi of Sauber by two tenths of a second.
Charismatic Venezuelan Pastor Maldonado of Williams was third quickest followed by Finn Kimi Raikkonen of Lotus and Mexican Sergio Perez of Williams.
Championship leader Spaniard Fernando Alonso of Ferrari could only manage sixth, closely followed by championship contenders Red Bull driver Australian Mark Webber and 2008 champion Briton Lewis Hamilton in the second McLaren.
Frenchman Romain Grosjean was ninth fastest in the second Lotus ahead of Briton Paul di Resta who clocked the tenth fastest time for Force India.
QUALIFYING TIMES
Qualifying N.3
1. Jenson Button (GBR) McLaren-Mercedes 1:47.573, 2. Kamui Kobayashi (JPN) Sauber-Ferrari 1:47.871, 3. Pastor Maldonado (VEN) Williams-Renault 1:47.893, 4. Kimi Raikkonen (FIN) Lotus-Renault 1:48.205, 5. Sergio Perez (MEX) Sauber-Ferrari 1:48.219, 6. Fernando Alonso (ESP) Ferrari 1:48.313, 7. Mark Webber (AUS) Red Bull-Renault 1:48.392, 8. Lewis Hamilton (GBR) McLaren-Mercedes 1:48.394, 9. Romain Grosjean (FRA) Lotus-Renault 1:48.538, 10. Paul di Resta (GBR) Force India-Mercedes 1:48.890
Q2
1. Jenson Button (GBR) McLaren-Mercedes 1:47.654 (Q), 2. Sergio Perez (MEX) Sauber-Ferrari 1:47.980 (Q), 3. Kimi Raikkonen (FIN) Lotus-Renault 1:48.414 (Q), 4. Mark Webber (AUS) Red Bull-Renault 1:48.546 (Q), 5. Lewis Hamilton (GBR) McLaren-Mercedes 1:48.563 (Q), 6. Kamui Kobayashi (JPN) Sauber-Ferrari 1:48.569 (Q), 7. Fernando Alonso (ESP) Ferrari 1:48.598 (Q), 8. Romain Grosjean (FRA) Lotus-Renault 1:48.714 (Q), 9. Paul di Resta (GBR) Force India-Mercedes 1:48.729 (Q), 10. Pastor Maldonado (VEN) Williams-Renault 1:48.780 (Q), 11. Sebastian Vettel (GER) Red Bull-Renault 1:48.792, 12. Nico Hülkenberg (GER) Force India-Mercedes 1:48.855, 13. Michael Schumacher (GER) Mercedes-AMG 1:49.081, 14. Felipe Massa (BRA) Ferrari 1:49.147, 15. Jean-Eric Vergne (FRA) Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:49.354, 16. Daniel Ricciardo (AUS) Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:49.543, 17. Bruno Senna (BRA) Williams-Renault 1:50.088
Q1
1. Pastor Maldonado (VEN) Williams-Renault 1:48.993 (Q), 2. Jenson Button (GBR) McLaren-Mercedes 1:49.250 (Q), 3. Nico Hülkenberg (GER) Force India-Mercedes 1:49.362 (Q), 4. Fernando Alonso (ESP) Ferrari 1:49.401 (Q), 5. Kimi Raikkonen (FIN) Lotus-Renault 1:49.546 (Q), 6. Daniel Ricciardo (AUS) Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:49.572 (Q), 7. Felipe Massa (BRA) Ferrari 1:49.588 (Q), 8. Lewis Hamilton (GBR) McLaren-Mercedes 1:49.605 (Q), 9. Sergio Perez (MEX) Sauber-Ferrari 1:49.642 (Q), 10. Kamui Kobayashi (JPN) Sauber-Ferrari 1:49.686 (Q), 11. Sebastian Vettel (GER) Red Bull-Renault 1:49.722 (Q), 12. Michael Schumacher (GER) Mercedes-AMG 1:49.742 (Q), 13. Jean-Eric Vergne (FRA) Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:49.763 (Q), 14. Mark Webber (AUS) Red Bull-Renault 1:49.859 (Q), 15. Bruno Senna (BRA) Williams-Renault 1:49.958 (Q), 16. Paul di Resta (GBR) Force India-Mercedes 1:50.033 (Q), 17. Romain Grosjean (FRA) Lotus-Renault 1:50.126 (Q), 18. Nico Rosberg (GER) Mercedes-AMG 1:50.181, 19. Heikki Kovalainen (FIN) Caterham-Renault 1:51.739, 20. Vitaly Petrov (RUS) Caterham-Renault 1:51.967, 21. Timo Glock (GER) Marussia-Cosworth 1:52.336, 22. Pedro de la Rosa (ESP) HRT-Cosworth 1:53.030, 23. Charles Pic (FRA) Marussia-Cosworth 1:53.493, 24. Narain Karthikeyan (IND) HRT-Cosworth 1:54.989