Michael Schumacher is out of qualifying after a wheel fell off his car in the out lap during qualifying round one. Jarno Trulli fell out of qualifying after Q1 as did Paul di Resta who was pipped at the post by Heikki Kovalainen.
Rain has dogged the practice sessions at Spa-Francorchamps circuit in Belgium. The circuit is the longest in the F1 calendar with the majority able to be taken at full throttle. The weather cleared somewhat towards the end of Q1 allowing the patient Jenson Button to make the most of conserved tyres and put in a fastest lap.
Adrian Sutil was out on Q2 with a slide across the greasy kerb and a minor crash into the barrier. He had been in fifth position before parking the vehicle for a greeting of red flags. However, his time of 02:07:777 was yet to be beaten and offered the prospect of still qualifying until the track dried towards the end of Q2 allowing his competition to log much faster times.
Alonso left it until the final three laps of Q2 to get into the top 10 after the pit stop for all cars needed to clear Sutil’s Force India Mercedes from the track. Hamilton made contact on the track once more to make it into the top ten on his final lap of Q2. Jenson Button appeared to make room for Lewis Hamilton to the serious detriment of his own position, sacrificing a place in Q3. Maldonado took a swipe at Hamilton invoking a penalty from the stewards.
