Nico Rosberg will start in pole position in the Belgian Grand Prix Sunday after finishing fastest in qualifying.
His Mercedes team mate Lewis Hamilton who leads the championship race by 19 points will start at the back of the field at the Spa circuit after taking a grid penalty for using more engine parts than is permissible.
The defending champion was plagued with engine problems at the start of the season and has to accept the penalty for replacing key components. He sat out most of the qualifying laps.
Rosberg was pushed hard by Max Verstappen in the Red Bull who was only a fraction of a second behind his time.
Team mates Kimi Raikkonenen and Sebastian Vettel in the Ferraris complete the front two rows of the grid.
The official F1 website explained that Hamilton had opted for the soft tires in his limited time on the track, and focused instead on getting his car right for the race.
Another former world champion, Fernando Alonso in his McLaren, will also start at the rear of the field as he too takes a penalty. His qualifying was disrupted when the car came to a stop on the circuit.
Rosberg was delighted with the pole position that now gives him a chance to claw back and possibly overtake Hamilton’s lead in the championship race.
He told reporters: “We had a difficult weekend up to now and especially this morning as we were seriously off the pace on one lap. So, it wasn’t easy coming into qualifying.
“We got the job done in the end, we made a few changes on the car, and we found the right way. So, it all came together and it was feeling good so I am very pleased about that one.”
His rival Hamilton was upbeat about his chances, hinting that much could happen in the course of the race. He made up a 43-point deficit to catch and overtake his team mate in the overall standings.
“It’s going to be hard,” he told reporters. “It won’t be smooth sailing – one car per lap – and it’s going to be lots of pit stops, so who knows?”
Red Bull’s Verstappen is looking like he could also challenge for victory at Spa, having set the fastest lap in practice and then pushing Rosberg for pole.
In practice Friday, several drivers tried out the new halo head protection device.
Red Bull has been trialling an alternative “aeroscreen” design to the FIA-sanctioned model, which is due to be introduced in the 2018 season.