Cheered on by a large contingent of Dutch fans, Verstappen led qualifying only for Rosberg to pip him by.149 of a second for his 28th career pole.
Advertisement
Kimi Raikkonen and Sebastian Vettel will form an all-Ferrari second row, with the Red Bull of Daniel Ricciardo in fifth.
World champion Lewis Hamilton will start the Belgian Grand Prix from the very back of the grid after serving a mammoth 30-place penalty following changes to his engine on Friday.
It rendered his qualifying session pointless, and after only four laps he went back to the garage.
“It would have been very hard to get pole position”.
The push for increased head protection has gathered urgency following the deaths previous year of Briton Justin Wilson, hit by debris in an IndyCar crash, and Frenchman Jules Bianchi who had suffered ultimately fatal injuries at the 2014 Japanese Grand Prix.
The sport’s complicated rulebook means Hamilton will serve a 55-place grid penalty following an engine change and a host of additional new components.
‘Today was really important for us to make sure the vehicle was right for tomorrow.
“Last year, we had a race where Jenson [Button] took 52 places which was so ridiculous that we brought forward a regulation that said you can not stockpile engines so, if you use more than one engine on a given race weekend, that shouldn’t be happening. To be so close to them, on a lap with some long straights, we can be very proud of that”.
Over the course of the weekend Mercedes has fitted an updated power unit to Hamilton’s auto ahead of each practice session, creating a pool of new components to be used over the remaining nine races of the season.
Grid penalties apply only to the race weekend itself and do not carry over into the next race, meaning that Hamilton’s engine should be in top condition at the Italian GP in Monza next weekend and beyond that, providing he does not encounter further mechanical problems.
The three-time F1 champion will start last, and with very little chance of securing his 50th win, but with some illustrious company.
The others failing to reach Q2 were Esteban Ocon – on his F1 debut for the Manor team – Felipe Nasr, Marcus Ericsson and Daniil Kvyat.
Elsewhere, Jenson Button was 13th for McLaren with British rookie Jolyon Palmer 18th. Manor team driver Pascal Wehrlein employed some strong language when blaming Haas driver Esteban Gutierrez for forcing him onto the grass.
Advertisement
“Every driver is essentially restricted to five power units per season and if they go above that, because of unreliability or breakdowns, they have to take grid penalties”.
