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Spa-Francorchamps - World championship leader Nico Rosberg secured his fourth pole position in succession on Saturday when he topped the times ahead of his Mercedes team-mate Lewis Hamilton in a tense and wet qualifying session for Sunday's Belgian Grand Prix.
The 29-year-old German clocked a best lap of two minutes and 5.698 seconds to outpace his British partner in treacherous and capricious conditions at the sprawling 7.004-km circuit in the forests of the Belgian Ardennes.
Hamilton struggled with his brakes and handling in the slippery conditions, but will start alongside Rosberg on the front row as he seeks to trim his 11 points lead in the drivers' championship with eight races remaining.
Rosberg's success secured his 11th career pole and his seventh this season. It was the Mercedes team's first front row lockout since the Canadian Grand Prix in June, five races previously. For Rosberg, it also brought his first top three qualifying result in Belgium in eight attempts.
Behind the two Mercedes, defending four-time champion Sebastian Vettel of Germany was third fastest for Red Bull ahead of Spain's former two-time champion Fernando Alonso of Ferrari and fifth placed Australian Daniel Ricciardo in the second Red Bull.
Qualifying times for the 2014 Belgian F1 GP:
1 Nico Rosberg (Germany) Mercedes 2min05.591
2 Lewis Hamilton (Britain) Mercedes
3 Sebastian Vettel (Germany) Red Bull - Renault
4 Fernando Alonso (Spain) Ferrari
5 Daniel Ricciardo (Australia) Red Bull - Renault
6 Valtteri Bottas (Finland) Williams-Mercedes
7 Kevin Magnussen (Denmark) McLaren
8 Kimi Raikkonen (Finland) Ferrari
9 Felipe Massa (Brazil) Williams-Mercedes
10 Jenson Button (Britain) McLaren
11 Daniil Kvyat (Russia) Toro Rosso - Renault
12 Jean-Eric Vergne (France) Toro Rosso - Renault
13 Sergio Perez (Mexico) Force India - Mercedes
14 Adrian Sutil (Germany) Sauber - Ferrari
15 Romain Grosjean (France) Lotus - Renault
16 Jules Bianchi (France) Marussia - Ferrari
17 Pastor Maldonado (Venezuela) Lotus - Renault
18 Nico Hue lkenberg (Germany) Force India - Mercedes
19 Max Chilton (Britain) Marussia - Ferrari
20 Esteban Gutierrez (Mexico) Sauber - Ferrari
21 Andre Lotterer (Germany) Caterham - Renault
22 Marcus Ericsson (Sweden) Caterham - Renault
