Reigning world champion Sebastian Vettel will line up at the front of the field tomorrow after taking his ninth pole position of the season.
Vettel, 24, set a lap of 1m48.298 during the dying moments of Q3 to deny Lewis Hamilton. Mark Webber and Felipe Massa complete the second row.
As track conditions rapidly improved in Q2, Hamilton banged wheels with Pastor Maldonado going through the Bus Stop chicane as the McLaren completed a flying lap and Maldonado ignored blue flags. It was still quick enough to make Hamilton fastest at the time, but Maldonado appeared to retaliate for the contact on the run out of La Source on their slowing-down laps, sideswiping the McLaren, which then needed minor impromptu repairs for Q3.
Hungary winner Jenson Button was eliminated in Q2 after a misunderstanding, whilst a similar situation befell Paul di Resta at the end of Q1, allowing Heikki Kovalainen to qualify 17th.
Michael Schumacher lost a wheel exiting Malmedy and spun into the barriers, curtailing his session before it begun, whilst Adrian Sutil dropped a wheel on the exit of Raidillon, bringing out the red flag for debris during Q2.
Pos Driver Team Time Gap 1. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1m48.298s 2. Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1m48.730s + 0.432 3. Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault 1m49.376s + 1.078 4. Felipe Massa Ferrari 1m50.256s + 1.958 5. Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1m50.552s + 2.254 6. Jaime Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m50.773s + 2.475 7. Bruno Senna Renault 1m51.121s + 2.823 8. Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1m51.251s + 2.953 9. Sergio Perez Sauber-Ferrari 1m51.374s + 3.076 10. Vitaly Petrov Renault 1m52.303s + 4.005 Q2 cut-off time: 2m04.625s Gap ** 11. Sebastien Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari 2m04.692s + 1.924 12. Kamui Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 2m04.757s + 1.989 13. Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 2m05.150s + 2.382 14. Rubens Barrichello Williams-Cosworth 2m07.349s + 4.581 15. Adrian Sutil Force India-Mercedes 2m07.777s + 5.009 16. Pastor Maldonado Williams-Cosworth 2m08.106s + 5.338 17. Heikki Kovalainen Lotus-Renault 2m08.354s + 5.586 Q1 cut-off time: 2m07.194s Gap * 18. Paul di Resta Force India-Mercedes 2m07.758s + 5.945 19. Jarno Trulli Lotus-Renault 2m07.773s + 5.960 20. Timo Glock Virgin-Cosworth 2m09.566s + 7.753 21. Jerome D'Ambrosio Virgin-Cosworth 2m11.601s + 9.788 22. Tonio Liuzzi HRT-Cosworth 2m11.616s + 9.803 23. Daniel Ricciardo HRT-Cosworth 2m13.077s + 11.264 24. Michael Schumacher Mercedes no time
