Qualifying: Button Bags First McLaren Pole at Spa

Jenson Button claimed his first pole position since his 2009 Championship-winning season, taking the coveted grid slot at Spa

Qualifying has often been Button's Achiles this season, however, after a few changes to his rear wing in Q2 there was no sign of that as the Brit crossed the line with a 1:47.573.

That was quick enough for his first pole position since as a McLaren driver.

In an interesting grid with Kamui Kobayashi making history as he secured his first front row starting position and the first ever for a Japanese driver as he was 0.298s off the pace

Pastor Maldonado was third ahead of Kimi Raikkonen while Sergio Perez completed a great Saturday for Sauber with a P5 ahead of Fernando Alonso.

Mark Webber, who qualified P7, will line-up 12th after a gearbox penalty.

Meanwhile, last year's Belgian GP winner Sebastian Vettel failed to make it into Q3 for only the second time this season, qualifying down in 11th place.

But it was Nico Rosberg, who will also have a five place gearbox penalty, who was the biggest loser, qualifying down in 18th place after crossing the line mere seconds too late to start another lap.

Times
01. Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 1m47.573
02. Kamui Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 1m47.871 + 0.298
03. Pastor Maldonado Williams-Renault 1m47.893 + 0.320
04. Kimi Raikkonen Lotus-Renault 1m48.205 + 0.632
05. Sergio Perez Sauber-Ferrari 1m48.219 + 0.646
06. Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1m48.313 + 0.740
07. Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault 1m48.392 + 0.819
08. Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1m48.394 + 0.821
09. Romain Grosjean Lotus-Renault 1m48.538 + 0.965
10. Paul di Resta Force India-Mercedes 1m48.890 + 1.317
11. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1m49.722 + 0.472
12. Nico Hulkenberg Force India-Mercedes 1m49.362 + 0.112
13. Michael Schumacher Mercedes 1m49.742 + 0.492
14. Felipe Massa Ferrari 1m49.588 + 0.338
15. Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m49.763 + 0.513
16. Daniel Ricciardo Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m49.572 + 0.322
17. Bruno Senna Williams-Renault 1m49.958 + 0.708
18. Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1m50.181 + 1.188
19. Heikki Kovalainen Caterham-Renault 1m51.739 + 2.746
20. Vitaly Petrov Caterham-Renault 1m51.967 + 2.974
21. Timo Glock Marussia-Cosworth 1m52.336 + 3.343
22. Pedro de la Rosa HRT-Cosworth 1m53.030 + 4.037
23. Charles Pic Marussia-Cosworth 1m53.493 + 4.500
24. Narain Karthikeyan HRT-Cosworth 1m54.989 + 5.996

Source: Planet-F1