Hamilton takes Belgian pole



Lewis Hamilton edged out main title rival Felipe Massa in the dying seconds of qualifying to capture pole position for Sunday's Belgian Grand Prix.

Massa had claimed provisional pole for Ferrari only for Hamilton to put his McLaren across the line in one minute 47.338 seconds - 0.340 secs quicker.

Heikki Kovalainen in the second McLaren overhauled Kimi Raikkonen's Ferrari to take third place on the grid.

Hamilton's pole in Spa was his fifth of the season and 11th of his career.

Nick Heidfeld, who set the fastest lap in final practice, kept up his improved run of form to take fifth for BMW Sauber with team-mate Robert Kubica in eighth.

Renault's Fernando Alonso claimed sixth spot ahead of Red Bull's Mark Webber.

Grid positions for the Belgian Grand Prix in Spa-Francorchamps:

1. Lewis Hamilton (GB) McLaren-Mercedes 1 min 47.338 secs

2. Felipe Massa (Brz) Ferrari 1:47.678

3. Heikki Kovalainen (Fin) McLaren-Mercedes 1:47.815

4. Kimi Raikkonen (Fin) Ferrari 1:47.992

5. Nick Heidfeld (Ger) BMW Sauber 1:48.315

6. Fernando Alonso (Spn) Renault 1:48.504

7. Mark Webber (Aus) Red Bull-Renault 1:48.736

8. Robert Kubica (Pol) BMW Sauber 1:48.763

9. Sebastien Bourdais (Fra) Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:48.951

10. Sebastian Vettel (Ger) Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:50.319

11. Jarno Trulli (Ita) Toyota 1:46.949

12. Nelson Piquet (Brz) Renault 1:46.965

13. Timo Glock (Ger) Toyota 1:46.995

14. David Coulthard (GB) Red Bull-Renault 1:47.018

15. Nico Rosberg (Ger) Williams-Toyota 1:47.429

16. Rubens Barrichello (Brz) Honda 1:48.153

17. Jenson Button (GB) Honda 1:48.211

18. Adrian Sutil (Ger) Force India-Ferrari 1:48.226

19. Kazuki Nakajima (Jpn) Williams-Toyota 1:48.268

20. Giancarlo Fisichella (Ita) Force India-Ferrari 1:48.447