Christian Vietoris takes Spa Pole

Christian Vietoris has made a strong impression in today’s qualifications at Spa-Francorchamps. The German driver set the quickest laptime on his final lap in a wet session and in difficult track conditions. Scuderia Coloni Luca Filippi finished P2, 1.4s slower than the German.

The rain was still falling over the Belgium circuit as the pitlane opened for the thirty minute session. The first laps were tricky with cars spraying a lot of water and drivers struggling to stay within the track limits on a slippery track. Vietoris was quickly on pace and moved up to the top of the timesheets in the early stages. It was Series leader Romain Grosjean who eventually bettered the German’s laptime by 0.1s. Filippi joined in on the battle together with Marcus Ericsson, but Vietoris reclaimed the top spot at mid-session, just as Sam Bird lost control of his car at Turn 6 putting an early end to his session.

As the session progressed, some parts of the track started to dry up, but all the cars remained on wet weather tyres. Adam Carroll moved up to P2 while Charles Pic found some extra pace to better Vietoris’ time by 0.6s just as the German left the pits for his final stint. With two minutes left on the clock, Filippi improved to take the top spot, 0.2s faster than Pic. The Frenchman slowed down to a stop unexpectedly at Turn 17, prompting the yellow flags. Vietoris and Filippi were then both on a flyer, the German setting fastest sectors 1 and 2. It was eventually Vietoris who passed under the chequered flag with the best laptime 1.4s quicker than the Italian’s. Pic maintained P3 and will start ahead of Bianchi, Michael Herck, Ericsson and Carroll.

It was a more complicated session for Series leader Romain Grosjean and title rival Giedo van der Garde. The Frenchman will start from P8. The Dutchman who will start from P11 will have to finish ahead of Grosjean if he wishes to keep his title hopes alive.