Hamilton, who is chasing a seventh F1 title to equal Michael Schuamcher’s record, leads the standings by 37 points over Verstappen and 43 over Bottas.

“That’s one of the cleanest qualifying sessions I’ve ever had,” Hamilton said proudly. “It’s a phenomenal feeling driving around this track, how fast this track has become.”

But Bottas has not given up hope of closing the gap with a victory on Sunday, considering Spa is the longest in F1 and has a big straight up to the first turn.

“I’m not too bothered as I know second place is a good place to start,” Bottas said. “I need to attack if I want to keep my title hopes there, so I’m definitely going to go for it. I know there will be opportunities.”

It was a strong performance from Renault driver Daniel Ricciardo, who starts from fourth.

But things are going from terrible to abysmal for Ferrari, with Charles Leclerc in 13th and Sebastian Vettel 14th.

Ferrari’s lack of form was such that Leclerc, who won last year from pole position, was happy to qualify in 13th.

“Honestly, yes. It’s sad to say that but getting into Q2 was a nice surprise. I’m starting from 13th and I think it will be difficult unless it rains,” he said.

Vettel registered the previous track record on his way to victory here in 2018, but this season the veteran German driver has not even finished in the top five in six races.