Jenson Button celebrated his 50th Formula One race for McLaren by ending a three-year wait and taking pole position in qualifying at the Belgian Grand Prix yesterday.

The pole was Button’s first since the 2009 Monaco Grand Prix, the year in which he won the championship with Brawn GP, and his first at McLaren and at the majestic Spa circuit.

Japan’s Kamui Kobayashi put his Sauber on the front row, a career best for him and only the second time a Japanese has qualified so high on the grid, alongside the Briton with Venezuelan Pastor Maldonado in third for Williams.

Maldonado, however, was later found guilty of blocking rival Nico Hulkenberg and relegated from third on the grid to sixth.

The stewards’ decision lifted Kimi Raikkonen of Lotus up to third.

“It’s been quite a long time since I got my last pole position,” grinned Button, who whooped with delight after being told he was ‘P1’ over the team radio, on a sunlit afternoon after heavy rain washed out Friday practice.

“It’s pretty emotional... it’s so important to come back after such a long break with a good result on Saturday,” added the Briton, referring to the August shutdown following the previous race in Hungary in July.

Button, who now has eight career poles to his credit, is only seventh in the championship and a massive 88 points adrift of Ferrari’s overall leader Fernando Alonso but has refused to give up hope.

The Briton has never won at Spa and nor has Alonso, who can rack up a record-equalling 24th successive points finish today and who qualified in sixth place behind the two Ferrari-powered Saubers.

Alonso’s closest title rival, Red Bull’s Mark Webber, was seventh fastest but has a five-place penalty due to an unscheduled gearbox change.

Sauber have not qualified on the front row this century, with their last appearance at the sharpest end of the grid coming at the 1999 French Grand Prix with Frenchman Jean Alesi.

Button’s team-mate Lewis Hamilton will start seventh behind Maldonado and helped by Webber’s penalty.

“We opted to use an old wing this weekend. After P3 (final practice), the new one wasn’t feeling so great. We went to the old wing and it was an awful lot slower,” said the 2008 champion who won in Budapest from pole before the break.

Red Bull’s double world champion Sebastian Vettel failed to make the final phase of qualifying but will start 10th due to his team-mate’s demotion to 12th place.

Further back, there was dismay for Mercedes who saw Nico Rosberg fail to get through the first session. The German will start 23rd today due to a five-place penalty.

His illustrious team-mate Michael Schumacher, celebrating his 300th grand prix at the circuit where he made his debut in 1991, starts 13th.

Today’s grid...

1. J. Button (McLaren) - 1:47.573
2. K. Kobayashi (Sauber) - 1:47.871
3. P. Maldonado (Williams) - *1:47.893
4. K. Raikkonen (Lotus) - 1:48.205
5. S. Perez (Sauber) - 1:48.219
6. F. Alonso (Ferrari) - 1:48.313
7. M. Webber (Red Bull) - *1:48.392
8. L. Hamilton (McLaren) - 1:48.394
9. R. Grosjean (Lotus) - 1:48.538
10. P. di Resta (Force India) - 1:48.890
11. S. Vettel (Red Bull) - 1:48.792
12. N. Hulkenberg (F. India) - 1:48.855
13. M. Schumacher (Mercedes) - 1:49.081
14. F. Massa (Ferrari) - 1:49.147
15. J.E. Vergne (Toro Rosso) - 1:49.354
16. D. Ricciardo (Toro Rosso) - 1:49.543
17. B. Senna (Williams) - 1:50.088
18. N. Rosberg (Mercedes) - *1:50.181
19. H. Kovalainen (Caterham) - 1:51.739
20. V. Petrov (Caterham) - 1:51.967
21. T. Glock (Marussia) - 1:52.336
22. P. de la Rosa (HRT) - 1:53.030
23. C. Pic (Marussia) - 1:53.493
24. N. Karthikeyan (HRT) - 1:54.989

Note: Pastor Maldonado loses three positions after penalty. Mark Webber to start from 12th and Nico Rosberg 23rd after five-place penalties.

Standings

Drivers
1. Alonso (ESP) 164, 2. Webber (AUS) 124, 3. Vettel (GER) 122, 4. Hamilton (GBR) 117, 5. Raikkonen (FIN) 116, 6. Rosberg (GER) 77, 7. Button (GBR) 76, 8. Grosjean (FRA) 76, 9. Perez (MEX) 47, 10. Kobayashi (JPN) 33, 11. Maldonado (VEN) 29, 12. Schumacher (GER) 29, 13. Di Resta (SCO) 27, 14. Massa (BRA) 25, 15. Senna (BRA) 24, 16. Hulkenberg (GER) 19, 17. Vergne (FRA) 4, 18. Ricciardo (AUS) 2.

Constructors
1. Red Bull Racing 246, 2. McLaren Mercedes 193, 3. Lotus 192, 4. Scuderia Ferrari 189, 5. Mercedes 106, 6. Sauber 80, 7. Williams 53, 8. Force India 46, 9. Scuderia Toro Rosso 6.