LEW BEAUTY

Hammy grabs pole in wet

RAINING CHAMP: Lewis Hamilton celebrates his 78th pole position

LEWIS HAMILTON took pole position for today’s Belgian Grand Prix with another masterclass in the rain.

Hamilton again revelled in wet conditions at the tricky Spa Circuit to finish comfortably clear of title rival Sebastian Vettel.

Hammy had struggled in the wake of Vettel and Ferrari team-mate Kimi Raikkonen – four times a winner at Spa.

But then the rains came and Hammy roared into top form with an immaculate and faultless final flourish around the tricky 4.2 miles circuit, with its 19 turns, that left the Ferrari favourites behind the magnificent Mercedes.

Hammy, who leads Vettel by 24 points in the championship, was delighted with his 78th pole in his 221st GP.

He said: “That was one of the toughest qualifying sessions I can remember.

“But after the summer break it is great to be back. And to have a result like this is a real treat.

“There comes a point in the break when you start to miss driving.

“So I am happy to be back behind the wheel.

“This is an awesome circuit to drive and race flat out at around 200 miles an hour.

“We are in the fastest cars we have ever had and here especially, you really feel it. It is just crazy.

“We’ve come here with a new engine and everything is running smoothly.

“But it is really close between us and Ferrari and they too have brought some upgrades.

“The race is all set to be a cracker.”

Vettel will start second but Raikkonen could only manage sixth position.

Frenchman Esteban Ocon pulled off a shock by sealing a career-best third place for Force India ahead of his team-mate Sergio Perez.