Summary

  • Hamilton on pole, Rosberg 2nd, Bottas 3rd

  • Grosjean 4th, Perez 5th, Ricciardo 6th, Vettel 9th

  • Raikkonen breaks down, Kvyat out in Q2

  • Both McLarens, Marussias & Nasr out

  • Hamilton top in Q1, Rosberg top in Q2

  1. Postpublished at 12:36

    Verstappen

    "Did you have a racing hero," Lee McKenzie asks Max Verstappen.

    "That's my dad," he replies.

    Correct answer.

  2. At home with the Verstappenspublished at 12:35

    BBC

    We are currently being treated to a behind-the-scenes look at Max Verstappen's home on BBC Two, which features the best (only) karting garage I have ever seen.

    Mad isn't it. It just looks like a dad at home with his son, indulging in a shared hobby, except Max is driving, and impressing, on the biggest stage in motorsport in the world.

    Max Verstappen
  3. Postpublished at 12:30 British Summer Time 22 August 2015

    Andrew Benson
    Chief F1 writer

    "The final practice session started with an announcement from tyre supplier Pirelli that they believed the dramatic 190mph tyre failure suffered by Rosberg on Friday had been caused by a puncture.  

    "And although the sport's biggest names, Hamilton, Vettel and McLaren's Fernando Alonso all raised their concerns about tyre safety in the drivers' briefing on Friday afternoon, there were no further problems in final practice.

    "The drivers continue to have a wider, general concern about Pirelli's tyres, however, their memories still fresh of the 2013 season, when a series of catastrophic failures during the British Grand Prix plunged the sport into crisis and led to emergency changes to the tyre design."

    Read more from Andrew here.

  4. CSI...for tyrespublished at 12:28

    Pirelli management

    Now when I bring up the word tyres with non-F1 following colleagues at work, it almost certainly elicits a massive yawn from them.

    Pirelli motorsport boss Paul Hembery has just done a cracking job of making them sound exciting, saying they had a CSI-like laboratory doing forensic work on the tyres after Nico Rosberg's tyre failure on Friday.

    Said crack forensics team have determined the tyre failure was caused by a "foreign object", and Hembery says they are now "finalising now the precise cause of that cut".

  5. One million grid place penaltiespublished at 12:22

    Dr EvilImage source, Getty Images

    McLaren duo Fernando Alonso and Jenson Button will start at the back of the grid on Sunday.

    Despite only 20 cars being on the grid, Alonso was hit with a 30-place penalty and Button a 25-place penalty for changes to their Honda power units. 

    That combined tally of 55 then increased to 105 today after further changes.

    May as well just make it one million places and be done with it...

  6. Get involved #bbcf1published at 12:22 British Summer Time 22 August 2015

    Qualifying predictions

    Can you see anything out of the ordinary happening in qualifying? 

    Let us know your predictions for qualifying via #bbcf1,, external text in on 81111 (UK only) and have your say on the BBC Sport Facebook page.

  7. Pedal to the metalpublished at 12:20 British Summer Time 22 August 2015

    Formula 1Image source, Getty Images
  8. Postpublished at 12:18 British Summer Time 22 August 2015

    Quote Message

    "Off the back of Hungary this is another circuit that throws up unusual results. This is not the Mercedes show by any stretch of the imagination."

    David Coulthard, BBC Two

  9. Got milk?published at 12:17

    Bernie EcclestoneImage source, ESPN F1

    Here's something you don't see every day - Bernie Ecclestone meeting disgruntled Belgian dairy farmers to discuss the price of milk.

    Unhappy with low prices in Belgium, the farmers have already blocked roads in the country in protest and there were rumours they of them setting up blockades around the circuit. 

    Bernie looks to have saved the day though.

  10. Postpublished at 12:12 British Summer Time 22 August 2015

    Andrew Benson
    Chief F1 writer

    "Lewis Hamilton heads into the weekend with a 21-point lead over Nico Rosberg in the championship, but facing a revived threat from Ferrari following Sebastian Vettel's victory in the previous race in Hungary, before Formula 1's summer break.

    "The world champion had appeared out of sorts on Friday, and Rosberg was confident enough to say he was 'one step ahead of Lewis at the moment'.

    "Not any more. 

    "Hamilton's work on the set-up overnight with his engineers has translated into a significant advantage, most of which was in the demanding middle sector of the lap, which is a succession of difficult medium- and high-speed corners.

    "Although Rosberg was slightly quicker than Hamilton in the first sector through the famous Eau Rouge corner, Hamilton was half a second ahead in the second.

    "The fight for pole appears to be between the two silver cars, with Ferrari next best."

  11. What's on and whenpublished at 12:10

    Yep, as Lee says build-up to Belgian Grand Prix qualifying gets under way at 12:10 BST on BBC Two and on this page, with qualifying itself starting at 13:00. Get on it.

  12. Postpublished at 12:08 British Summer Time 22 August 2015

  13. Postpublished at 12:07

    Nico RosbergImage source, AFP

    A massive tyre failure on Friday and a wife expecting their first child at any minute waiting at home, it is perhaps fair to say Nico Rosberg has plenty going on in his head at the moment.

    It is hard to say whether either of the above was playing on his mind this morning but, after a dominant display on Friday, the German's best in FP3 was half a second slower than Lewis Hamilton's benchmark time.

  14. Postpublished at 12:05

    Lewis HamiltonImage source, Getty Images

    Beautiful views, beautiful circuit and home to arguably the best corner in Formula 1, everyone loves Spa right?

    Wrong.

    When Lewis Hamilton was asked if this circuit was one of his favourites the other day, his response was simply: "No".

    He doesn't have the best of records at Spa but then, his team-mate and most likely rival for pole in qualifying today might just have his mind on other matters...

  15. To me, to youpublished at 12:00

    Nico Rosberg and Lewis HamiltonImage source, Getty Images

    After Nico Rosberg topped Friday, his Mercedes team-mate Lewis Hamilton led the way in final practice.

    It all points to another Mercedes pole, but after Rosberg's nerve-jangling tyre failure and with Spa not a happy hunting ground for Hamilton, could someone else take advantage and steal the show?

  16. Postpublished at 11:15

    Yep, you too can do what Emma is doing and get yourself ready for the day or rattle off some chores because we are going to have a little break before build-up to qualifying begins at 12:00.

    See you then!

  17. Get involved #bbcf1published at 11:08 British Summer Time 22 August 2015

  18. Grosjean team radiopublished at 11:07 British Summer Time 22 August 2015

    Grojean
    Quote Message

    Raikkonen is dangerous. It's very dangerous what he did to me.

  19. Postpublished at 11:07

    Romain Grosjean managed to sneak up to 16th with his final lap, but was left frustrated by Kimi Raikkonen as the Ferrari got in his way.

  20. FP3 resultpublished at 11:04

    1) Hamilton 2) Rosberg 3) Vettel 4) Raikkonen 5) Perez 6) Ricciardo 7) Kvyat 8) Hulkenberg 9) Bottas 10) Massa

    11) Sainz 12) Maldonado 13) Verstappen 14) Nasr 15) Ericsson 16) Grosjean 17) Button 18) Stevens 19) Merhi

    * No running for Alonso