Belgian GP: Bridgestone Qualifying Review

Red Bull Racing's Mark Webber powered to his fifth pole of the season using Bridgestone's soft Potenza tyre in mixed conditions at Spa.

Webber set his 1m 45.778secs lap time shortly before rain started to fall during the Q3 qualifying session. Vodafone McLaren Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton set the second fastest time, late in the session despite rainfall on sections of the track. Webber was also fastest in the morning using the hard tyre. The full complement of Bridgestone's tyres were used today, with the wet and intermediate as well as the hard and soft dry slick tyres all seeing use once more.

Q&A with Hirohide Hamashima - Bridgestone Director of Motorsport Tyre Development

What was significant about today's running?
"Today was all about timing. The challenge for teams and drivers was ensuring they were on the right tyre at the right time. Mark timed his pole lap to perfection, but Lewis drove exceptionally well to set the second fastest lap despite the rain falling once more. Again, it was a difficult day for everyone with numerous rain showers. We saw use of our full range of tyres here today. The qualifying sessions were particularly difficult, leaving us with an interesting grid for tomorrow's race."

What are the tyre strategy considerations for tomorrow's race?
"The first consideration is the weather. If there is any rain tomorrow, teams will have to evaluate the usable wet and intermediate tyres they have left from their allocations for the weekend and decide which will be best for the conditions. If there are many rain showers in the race it will be difficult in terms of tyre management because a drying track wears the wet and intermediate tyres very quickly. If the track is damp, a set of previously used intermediate tyres could be the best solution for the conditions. With such a long lap here, it is very difficult for everyone to make the correct choice, and the penalty for being on the wrong tyre is amplified by the length of the lap. If it is dry tomorrow, there will be the interest of which dry compound performs best. As we have had so little dry running so far there is little performance data so teams will have to be very reactive in their strategies. I will be very surprised if we have a dull race tomorrow."

Stats of the Day 
Practice Three 11:00 - 12:00
Driver             Team                 Time        Tyre
Mark Webber 	   Red Bull Racing 	1m 46.106s  H
Lewis Hamilton 	   Vodafone McLaren 	1m 46.223s  H
Sebastian Vettel   Red Bull Racing 	1m 46.396s  S

Qualifying 14:00 - 15:00
Driver             Team                 Time        Tyre
Mark Webber 	   Red Bull Racing 	1m 45.778s  S
Lewis Hamilton 	   Vodafone McLaren 	1m 45.863s  S
Robert Kubica 	   Renault F1 Team 	1m 46.100s  S

Compounds used: Medium / soft / Intermediate / Wet
Temperatures 	Ambient     Track	 Weather
AM - Practice 3 14C-15C-14C 15C-19C-17C Cloudy/Sunny/Drizzle/Rain
PM - Qualifying 17C-15C-18C 22C-17C-25C Sunny / Rain / Sunny