Lewis Hamilton dedicated his Belgian Grand Prix pole position to Chadwick Boseman after the actor's death "broke" the six-time Formula One world champion. (More Sports News)
Six-time Formula One world champion Lewis Hamilton said it was not easy to regain his focus after learning of 'Black Panther' star Chadwick Boseman's passing
Lewis Hamilton dedicated his Belgian Grand Prix pole position to Chadwick Boseman after the actor's death "broke" the six-time Formula One world champion. (More Sports News)
'Black Panther' star Boseman died from colon cancer aged just 43 on Friday and Hamilton paid tribute to the American in a social media post before going out on track at Spa on Saturday.
Hamilton smashed the circuit record with a blistering lap of one minute, 41.252 seconds to secure first place on the grid for the 93rd time in his incredible F1 career.
The championship leader was over half a second quicker than team-mate Valtteri Bottas as Mercedes locked out the front row, with Max Verstappen taking third place.
Hamilton paid his respects to Boseman again after giving himself a golden opportunity to win this race for the first time since 2017.
The Brit said: "Today was a very clean session. Every lap was getting better and better. There was a lot of great work in the background.
"This was an important pole. I woke up today to the saddest news of Chadwick passing away.
"It's been such a heavy year for us all and that news broke me, so it wasn't easy to get back focused. For what he's done for our people and superheroes - to show the kids what's possible in life. Wakanda forever."
Bottas, who turned 31 on Friday, vowed to go on the attack on Sunday in a bid to claw back some of the 43 points he trails Hamilton by.
The Finn said: "Turn one was a bit inconsistent, we got the car right and I had a bit of a lock-up. The second run felt pretty good overall, so I don't know where the gap to Lewis was.
"I'm not too bothered as I know second place is a good place to start with such a good run up to turn one.
"I need to attack if I want to keep my title hopes there and nothing is over until it's over so I'm definitely going to go for it. I know there will be opportunities to do it."
Verstappen is hoping for rain on Sunday but does not believe Mercedes can be denied a first win at Spa in three years.
The Red Bull driver said: "It's been a positive weekend - we came here and thought it would be really tricky. With P3 and being that close to Valtteri - although we are still half a second off Lewis - the lap was decent
"I ran out of energy a little bit, but it is distributed across the whole lap which is the best way to do it. Pleased with the day, and there's a lot of opportunity tomorrow.
"If you look at the lap time off to Lewis, I don't think we can fight them in the race, but with the weather I hope it comes into play, and it will make it more fun."