Adam Cooper F1

Lewis Hamilton surprised even himself with by taking a superb pole position in tricky conditions at Spa.

Hamilton, who only just scraped into Q3, was the last car across the line as the track began to dry. Belgium is his fourth pole in a row.

“It was obviously a good job by the team,” said Hamilton. “I was so surprised when I crossed the line. When I started the lap I saw on the screen that I was about seventh or eighth and I thought ‘Oh my God’, especially as it was raining more.

“I went wide in Turn One, and the dash display is usually telling you whether you’re up or down, and it said I was three seconds down and then five seconds and six seconds. So I didn’t understand what was happening in the lap, but I just kept pushing.”

Hamilton said he was happy with the form of the W04.

“I think generally I feel quite comfortable in changing conditions, and I feel I’m able to find the limits when the conditions are really on the edge. And in the middle I pushed quite a lot in the middle sector, particularly as I thought I was down three seconds, so I was really caning it. But, yeah, the car’s feeling good.”

Hamilton admitted that Mercedes would not have got pole in normal, dry conditions: “I would be guessing but my guess would be maybe not. The Red Bull was looking particularly quick and also the Ferrari was looking quite quick in the dry conditions, so I’m not necessarily sure that we had the pace to be as fast everyone today. But who knows, it’s just a guess.”

Nevertheless he’s confident that he has a good package for race day.

“I feel that the long pace is not bad. Last night we made some decent changes, but going into qualifying we made some better ones. Qualifying was more about just being there at the right time, and you never know when you’re going to be in the right position. And I just happened to be one of the last ones coming across the line and that’s when the track would be at its best.

“But I think Nico proved that the long run was good, and I think I had a few good laps as well, but the Red Bulls are still pretty quick. I think it’s going to be close but I hear it’s going to rain pretty heavily tomorrow.”

Pirelli is investigating the causes of right rear punctures that afflicted Sebastian Vettel and Fernando Alonso in FP2, along with a series of cuts seen on other tyres.

Pirelli’s Paul Hembery believes that that something on the track was the likely cause in most cases, while also suggesting that a piece of debris was responsible for the Vettel problem.

Inevitably given the events of Silverstone and the high speed nature of Spa teams and drivers are looking for some reassurance from Pirelli.

“It looks on the Red Bull as if something has been rubbing on the surface and then cut straight through the surface,” said Hembery. “And on the Ferrari there are two quite clear holes through the top of the tread. We’ve got to go and look at the track later and see what’s been Turns 13 and 15.

“To be honest, I wouldn’t say it’s normal punctures, but it’s the sort of thing you’d see throughout the weekend. We’ve seen a lot of signs on other tyres as well with some surface cuts. There’s clearly something, although I can’t tell you what it is yet. It’s damage from external forces.

“To be honest it could be anything. Unfortunately, like in the case of Alonso, you’ve got two holes through the top. What on earth can cause that? You’ve got to go and find it, and that’s obviously what we want to do.

“We’ve seen some cuts on some other tyres, so there’s clearly something somewhere that’s causing an issue.”

Asked if it was a worry for Pirelli, he said: “It’s a worry for the sport because we have to go and find out what it is. There’s not a lot we can do. We’ll try our very best to identify it and give indications of what can be causing it.”

Elaborating on Vettel’s issue he said: “Something’s caught up between the floor and the tyre in that case.”

The FIA now monitors pressure and cambers, and Hembery insisted that everyone was running within the prescribed limits.

Jenson Button made it clear today that he doesn’t yet have a contract with McLaren for 2014 – but he insisted that he fully intends to stay on.

Nevertheless in theory he could still be a potential candidate for another team, such as Red Bull or Ferrari.

Button has an option to continue with McLaren, but when asked about his future he indicated that he didn’t know why there had been no confirmation from the team that he will be retained.

“I think I have a contract for next year, but I don’t think it’s got a signature on it yet!,” he said. “I really want to be here next year. You might think that’s strange after this season, but I think this season is good for us in a way. We’ll be a much stronger team this year. But as you say, you haven’t heard the confirmation of that yet from the team. I think you’ll have to wait for that.”

Asked by this writer if the real attraction was the arrival of Honda in 2015, he said: “Yeah, there’s a lot about this team in the future that appeals to me. It’s very exciting, there’s new challenges. But even next season, I’m excited about next year. You’ve got the initial challenges of the engine and trying to understand the car, and aerodynamics, and the power unit.

“If you put the time and the effort in I think it can make a big difference this winter, understanding the car and the tyres. It’s something I’m pretty good at, so hopefully it will make the difference next year.”

Meanwhile he made some interesting observations about other potentially available seats.

“I think Red Bull is done. I think the Ferrari seat is a great opportunity for any driver in F1, to get the opportunity to race for a team like Ferrari is very exciting, what they’ve achieved, the passion within the team, the culture is very interesting. Hopefully someone that deserves it will get the drive.”

Daniel Ricciardo insisted today that he has not been told that he has the Red Bull drive for next season – despite the consensus in the paddock being that the young Australian has got the nod.

However, the Toro Rosso driver’s body language definitely suggested that he’s expecting some good news, and even by his usual standards he had a big smile on his face today.

“I don’t honestly follow too much of the media hype – sorry guys!,” he said. “I’m on Twitter, so you see a few comments on Twitter. People write to me asking things, so then I become aware of maybe a few things that are going on. As far as I know, they could have happened, they could have not, it could just be one person starting a story.

“I can assure you I haven’t heard anything from the people next door. I’ve still got to keep my feet on the ground, keep pushing and try and get some results and boost my chances.”

Ricciardo believes that he’ll be in a position to challenge Sebastian Vettel next year, if he got the job.

“If it was too all go forward in my favour, I would expect that of myself. It’s not an easy task, and I wouldn’t expect anything like that to be easy. But I’m sure that even though he’s won three straight, it hasn’t been easy for him. It’s hard work but I’ll prepare and make sure I’m in the best position possible to make it all happen in a successful way.”

However, for the moment he’s keeping a lid on expectations: “Exactly. That’s why I’m not going to start celebrating and popping champagne until something is confirmed, signed, sealed, delivered, all the rest of it. I’ve still got my time here with Toro Rosso for this year, and that’s what I’ve got to focus on. Definitely no celebrations yet.”

Nico Hulkenberg’s name continues to be linked with the second Ferrari seat, and the German admits that he would be very happy to get the opportunity to go to Maranello.

Many see his position at Sauber as a sort of holding camp, allowing Ferrari to keep an eye on him and call on his services should he fit the team’s plans in 2014. However he says that his future plans are open.

“It’s a good team for sure, one of the top teams, and if you’d get the chance you’d probably do it,” he said of Ferrari. “But at this point we’re still looking at the options of what we can do, where to position ourselves. Nothing is decided, and I think it will still take a little while.”

Hulkenberg denied that his future might depend on what happens to Kimi Raikkonen.

“Not necessarily. Obviously Kimi is playing a role there, but it’s not necessarily depending all on him.”

Regarding how things might play out, he said: “What you want and what is happening, that is sometimes not the same. You have to wait and see. I want to make a decision when I feel that I’ve made the right choice and when I’m comfortable with everything included in the deal.”

Kimi Raikkonen failed to show up at Spa today because of illness, according to Lotus. However, the team insists that he will be present on Friday.

His absence has led to speculation that Kimi doesn’t want to face a barrage of media questioning about his future – but that doesn’t make a lot of sense given that he has other media sessions scheduled on Friday and later in the weekend.

If his absence is indeed out of choice rather than necessity then perhaps a more plausible explanation is that he is in effect on strike, given that as was the case last year the team is believed to be behind on salary payments.

While missing Friday or any other track running will clearly harm his title campaign Raikkonen may well believe that he can skip Thursday without too much trouble, and in doing so cause some embarrassment to the team.

On Thursdays F1 drivers always have a packed schedule of media commitments, team briefings, and a track walk with their engineers – although Raikkonen opts out of the latter.

Meanwhile his future remains up in the air. Although he can clearly stay at Lotus he has to be convinced that the team will have a competitive package in 2014, and that the funds will be in place to properly recompense him.

His management told the media earlier this week that any negotiations with Red Bull had ceased, but he is still potentially of interest to other teams, and a return to Ferrari is not out of the question, despite the acrimonious split at the end of 2009.

Infiniti and Red Bull Racing are offering engineering graduates a chance to work at the F1 team via what they call “a new global talent search initiative.”

The Infiniti Performance Engineering Academy will see two winning candidates complete a 12-month assignment with RBR, working alongside Infiniti engineers, while also spending time at the company’s UK road car technical centre.

Recruitment will not open until later in the year, so no details are available as yet. However the selection process will begin in May 2014 with the applicants put “through a comprehensive selection process to assess their performance potential and innovative thinking,” and the finalists then judged by a panel from Infiniti and RBR.

The winners will be announced at next year’s British GP. The placements start in September, with Infiniti noting that this “once-in-a-lifetime scholarship includes a salary, accommodation, and the use of a car.”

Adrian Newey said: “One of the key advantages of our partnership with Infiniti is our ability to utilise their resources, from materials to processes and people. As such it is really interesting for us to benefit from a worldwide selection process which brings the best new talent through our door.

“The speed of technical development in Formula One means that fresh thinking is crucial in keeping ahead of the other teams and we hope that providing an opportunity for world class graduates to work with us will provide long term performance benefits for us and for Infiniti.”

Meanwhile Infiniti president Johan De Nysschen said: “We are looking for candidates who share our passion, and we open up an avenue for them to become an elite member of the Infiniti engineering team in the future.”

It sounds like a good scheme, and one might assume if the winners turn out to be any good they might be asked to stay on beyond 12 months….