Andrew Benson
Chief F1 writer at Spa

Image source, Getty Images

“An overlooked aspect of Lewis Hamilton’s pole position at the Belgian Grand Prix on Saturday was that the world champion has already won his first trophy of 2015. Ten poles in 11 grands prix, with only 19 race in the season, means Hamilton cannot be beaten to the pole position trophy that was introduced last year and won by team-mate Nico Rosberg. 

"A much more immediate concern for Hamilton, though, is converting more of those poles into wins, of which he has five so far, even if it should really be six - Monaco, after all, slipped through his fingers. He is determined to make sure that does not happen again this weekend. ‘The races have not reflected my pace and pole positions,’ he said, ‘so I need to convert more poles to wins and that’s my goal.”

When it comes to dramatic starts at Belgium, nothing beats the 1998 race there.

Twenty two cars started, 13 were out seconds later after a huge pile-up, which happened when David Coulthard ran over a drain cover, spun into a wall and then rebounded back in front of the rest of field.

"It involved nearly all the cars on the grid, unfortunately triggered by myself," remembers Coulthard.

You can see that incident, and several other notable Belgium GP moments in Coulthard's video here.

Right then, there's been a fair few penalties to get through, with Romain Grosjean, who qualified fifth, and Kimi Raikkonen, who qualified 14th both taking five-place grid penalties for gearbox changes. 

Grosjean starts from ninth with Raikkonen 16th - so actually dropping just two places because of various penalties to other drivers. 

Bit of a minefield!

1) Hamilton 2) Rosberg 3) Bottas 4) Perez 5) Ricciardo 6) Massa 7) Maldonado 8) Vettel 9) Grosjean 10) Sainz

11) Hulkenberg 12) Kvyat 13) Ericsson 14) Nasr 15) Stevens 16) Raikkonen 17) Merhi 18) Verstappen 19) Button 20) Alonso

Andrew Benson
Chief F1 writer

“If it was not a surprise to see Lewis Hamilton on pole - how could it be in this season in which he has well and truly recovered his fabled one-lap pace? - it was to see team-mate Nico Rosberg nearly half a second behind. 

"Rosberg had looked so convincing through Friday practice, with Hamilton not on terms. And he admitted Hamilton’s pace caught him on the hop. ‘I was expecting to be on pole because it was going very well,’ Rosberg said. ‘It came as a big surprise, especially getting out of the car and seeing the times that he had improved again (on his second run). It’s very surprising and annoying. He pulled an extra bit I wasn’t able to do.’ 

"Hamilton’s advantage was in the middle sector, as Rosberg admitted with some humour. ‘Mainly Turns 12, 13, 14, but everywhere,’ he said. ‘First and third sectors it’s just one corner and it’s all about putting your foot down on the straight and I am really good at that. The middle sector is where the corners are.’”

BBC One

Build up to the Belgian GP gets under way at 12:10 BST on BBC One, with 5 live radio commentary at 13:00, which is when the race itself gets under way.

You can also listen and watch online and choose a variety of different screens to enhance your grand prix-following experience.

Image source, Getty Images

BBC Weather's Ian Fergusson: "Modelled front position S of Belgium, race start (UKMO here, GMT): 40% shower risk by 4pm local.

"So dry race is most likely; however, isolated light showers possible late in race."

Of course, the chances of drama at the start will be increased by the presence of rain and, given the region's notoriously fickle microclimate, will we be seeing any today?

Andrew Benson
Chief F1 writer

“What effect will the new rules governing clutches have on their introduction today? Teams are now prevented from changing the clutch bite point once the car has left the garage - where previously they would adjust it on the basis of data on the grip of the track. And they can now no longer advise drivers on clutch settings on the formation lap.

"Many leading drivers - Fernando Alonso, Sebastian Vettel, Jenson Button, for example - say they do not expect it to make much difference. But Nico Rosberg says we can expect ‘more people messing up their starts.’ We shall see.”

Image source, Getty Images

Lewis Hamilton has started poorly in each of the last three races - Austria, Britain and Hungary - while Nico Rosberg has endured disappointing getaways in the latter two.

While they managed to pull it round at Silverstone, Mercedes lost in Budapest as a result of poor starts.

I'd wager there will be more than a few fingernails being chomped on in the Mercedes garage today...

Image source, Getty Images

Hello! Welcome to our coverage of the Belgian Grand Prix.

The first race after the summer break has an added element of excitement and uncertainty.

New start procedures means drivers will have to prepare the clutch settings for the getaway themselves without assistance from their race engineers. 

More than ever before this season, how good each car gets away will be in the hands of the individual driver - they'll have to feel the crucial bite point - and that's potentially not good news for Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg...

"This is the worst start to a grand prix that I have ever seen."

Those were the words uttered by a stunned Murray Walker as the carnage unfolded at the start of the 1998 Belgium Grand Prix.

We're unlikely to see such scenes today, but the start will be very much under the spotlight.

Lewis Hamilton may be on pole but, given his recent struggles to get off the line well, we could be in for a very intriguing start indeed...