Whatever else happens today, Lewis Hamilton can leave Spa tonight knowing that on Saturday afternoon he did something pretty special.

Against all odds, having only just made it into Q3, the Mercedes driver took pole, leaving Paul di Resta heartbroken and Sebastian Vettel open-mouthed. Indeed, so surprised were Hamilton and his team at their achievement that the TV commentators were forced to apologise for the bad language. In reality, Hamilton was as surprised by his lap as Vettel and company.

Whether he can pull something equally special out of the hat today remains to be seen however, he can at least head back to Roscoe safe in the knowledge that on Saturday afternoon he left much of the paddock speechless.

Despite being caught off-guard by Hamilton's superhuman effort, surely Vettel and Mark Webber won't be heading into this afternoon's race feeling too despondent. Not like Fernando Alonso, who, having shown his car's improved pace in almost every session, was - like so many others - caught out by the madness that was qualifying and consequently starts from the fifth row.

In all honesty, it would be difficult to analyse qualifying too deeply for the fact is that the conditions and the speed with which they changed saw even the most experienced teams and their strategists masking wrong calls. In those final moments, as it became clear that Paul di Resta had lost the coveted front row slot nobody could have predicted how it was all going to play out.

Last night saw the mother of all storms with further rain throughout the night and while the track was still damp for this morning's GP3 and GP2 events the threatened rain never materialised. However, as we know from experience things can change very quickly here.

Tyre options are hard (prime) and medium (option), while there are two DRS zones, the first on the short pit straight and the second on the Kemmel Straight leading up the hill to Les Combes. Detection points are before the chicane and the other on the run down to Eau Rouge.

In terms of strategy, under normal circumstances, one or two stops are possible. A two-stop strategy is faster than a one-stop by three seconds, but only over the last five laps. So if there's a safety car period for more than three to four laps, teams could revert to a one-stopper. A two-stop strategy could be: start on the medium tyre, switch to medium again on lap 13 and hard on lap 25. Alternatively, start on the medium tyre, stop on lap 19 and then run to the finish on the hard.

Last year you'll remember that Hamilton's race, along with Alonso's came to a dramatic end at the first corner courtesy of Romain Grosjean, thereby earning the hot-headed Frenchman a one-race ban. It is to be hoped that there will be no such silliness today, however, with such a mixed up grid - Van der Garde and the Marussias starting ahead of the Williams and Toro Rossos - anything could happen. And then there's Alonso starting from ninth.

The pitlane opens and one by one the drivers head out, each performing a practice start just after the pitlane exit on the hill running down to Eau rouge.

Eyes look to the heavens but it is not the weather that gives cause for concern but a group of Greenpeace people who a situated on top of the main grandstand. They arrived there on by parachute. Any problems in terms of disruption could be damaging for the future of the race.

Elsewhere, Giedo Van der Garde reveals that according to Caterham's weather technology there is a 60 percent chance of rain around an hour into the race.

As the protestors prepare to abseil down the front of the stand one cannot help but fear for their safety... the police here are not known for their sensitivity.

Even worse than the threat of protests, we are force to sit through a 'rock version' of the Belgian national anthem. (Us neither).

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READERS COMMENTS

1. Posted by JackTheCat, 26/08/2013 15:34 (moderated by an Adminstrator, 26/08/2013 15:35)

"Sadly that's realistically that as far as the drivers championshp goes. Despite Alonso's insistence that it's not over (he seems to fail to realise that if he keeps finishing behind Vettel he will not win the championship) Vettel will be a 4 time champion within the next few months and he and Red Bull thoroughly deserve it.

The sad bit is that as he starts to dominate the sport in Schumacheresque style people will once again start to turn away from it as they want to see a fight to the wire... it's human nature to not want to watch utter dominance no matter how great that person is.

People keep teling me it's more about Newey and the car than Vettel yet Webber in the same car isn't doing anywhere near as well and that is not a criticism of Webber.... it's an illustration of the skill of Vettel.

As in that dominant Schumacher/Ferrari period it is up to the oter teams to raise their game. Alonso, Hamilton and Raikonnen may well be Vettel's equal , but they need to push their teams to develop a car as good as the Red Bull so thaey can take the fight to him.

Alterntively maybe, just maybe, Vettel is better than we all realise and even in equal machinery he would still come out on top.... that is what we all want to know and hopefully one of at least one of Mercedes, Ferrari and Lotus can build a car good eniough to challenge Red Bull over the whole season next year and then we will see what happens.

Finally can I just encourage people to use these comments to discuss the stories.... we all love to have our say 'down the pub' so don't be shy on here. Get posting people!"

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2. Posted by Jackal, 25/08/2013 14:23 (moderated by an Adminstrator, 26/08/2013 15:35)

"Outstanding performance from Vettel. Dominated the entire race and never put a wheel wrong. Even better from his point of view is that Raikkonen failed to finish, and now Alonso has assumed second in the Championship ...... so in essence his rivals are taking points from themselves, thus allowing the German to widen his lead.

Glad to see Perez and Maldonado sanctioned for their driving. Very appropriate IMO."

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Vettel cruises to Spa victory

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