Looking ahead to today's big race, and going just slightly off topic, one couldn't help but laugh at two classic bits of irony this weekend.

First off, as the sport celebrates the twentieth anniversary of Michael Schumacher's F1 debut - at this very circuit - the German failed to complete a single lap in qualifying, bringing back memories of his failure to complete a single race lap back in 1991. Could we possibly see a repeat today as the German battles with Ricciardo, Liuzzi, d'Ambrosio and the dreaded Pastor Maldonado in the opening moments?

Then there was Mark Webber's assurance to the media of Friday that teammate Sebastian Vettel's dominance of the 2011 championship is over. That was about twenty-four hours before said German came out of nowhere to take pole with a last gasp effort 0.432s quicker than his nearest rival, and over a second quicker than Webber.

All that aside, after yesterday's excellent qualifying session we have a nicely jumbled up grid, even if at this time it looks as though the weather gods have chosen to take the day off. It's been bright, and, more importantly, dry all morning and the forecast for this afternoon is much of the same. Though at Spa we have learned to take nothing for granted.

Though it's dry, it is unseasonably cool which means bad news for Ferrari and in particular Fernando Alonso who starts from eighth on the grid. Teammate Felipe Massa, who did well to take fourth will also be hoping for a little bit of localised global warming over the course of the next couple of hours.

While we were told that this circuit doesn't really suit the Red Bulls they have looked good all weekend, with both drivers dominating at various stages. The Austrian outfit's 100% reliability record thus far this season, combined with its obvious pace here, suggests that this afternoon the grasp on both 2011 titles will become just that little bit firmer.

Despite the best efforts of Maldonado - who really should have left that sort of crap behind in GP2 - Lewis Hamilton did magnificently to finish second on the grid. His car did suffer damage in the clash and with so little time to fully prepare it before Q3 it took a humungous effort (and confidence) to do what the Englishman did. However - and there's usually a however when McLaren is involved - the strategic cock-up which saw Jenson Button miss the cut was dumb. To put it mildly. While the 2009 champ faces a long, difficult afternoon, particularly if it remains dry, Hamilton should be able to take the fight to Red Bull… and let's not forget that much talked about rear wing of which little has been seen thus far.

While Anniversary man Schumacher is getting all the attention, Nico Rosberg dug deep to put his Mercedes fifth on the grid. The German has done a superb job this year and really isn't getting the credit he deserves. With a brace of fifths earlier in this season, one wonders whether Nico might improve on that this afternoon. On the other hand, teammate Schumacher has it all to do. On the other hand, it gives him the perfect opportunity for a bit of scrapping on a circuit which has played a major role in his story.

Of course, if Rosberg deserves a slap on the back for his achievements, what of Jaime Alguersuari and Bruno Senna, who start from sixth and seventh? The Toro Rossos have been looking a decent prospect all weekend, however, surely nobody expected the Spaniard to qualify ahead of his countryman. Whether Alguersuari can maintain position or at least remain in the points remains to be seen however, since Canada he's had a string of decent results, no doubt spurred on by Daniel Ricciardo's move to a full seat, albeit at HRT.

As for Senna, whatever else he does today, the fact is he put his Renault seventh on the good, ahead of his teammate. To date, we have never been convinced by the youngster - then again he does have a hell of as lot to live up to - today could be one of his best opportunities to prove the sceptics wrong. A points finish would certainly go some way to saying he has Heidfeld's car on merit.

With an eye on the various problems at Renault, what better opportunity for Sauber, Force India and Toro Rosso to close the gap in that all important battle for fifth place in the Constructors' Championship. After all, while it is the drivers' title that gets the attention it is the constructors' standings that decides the money.

While Sergio Perez and Kamui Kobayashi must both be considered god bets for points today, Toro Rosso is clearly in there and the Force India duo will be fired up following yesterday's frustration.

With Heikki Kovalainen getting into Q2 for the second time this season, Lotus continues to improve and the one team that should be worrying is Williams. With Rubens Barrichello said to be very unhappy at the lack of progress being made, the last thing the Grove outfit needed was Maldonado's stupidity yesterday.