Lewis Hamilton takes pole for Belgian GP, equals Michael Schumacher's record

New Delhi: Lewis Hamilton will be racing the 200th race of his career at the Belgian Grand Prix on Sunday. And the Brit champion was in fine form on Saturday when he took the pole position for his milestone race. It was another feat for him, a world record 68th career pole.

Hamilton though is not the sole owner of the record as he equalled the world record of as many pole positions with German legend Michael Schumacher.

The 32-year-old three-time world champion will start Sunday's race, the 200th of his career, from his sixth pole this year with championship leader German Sebastian Vettel of Ferrari alongside him in second. Hamilton's lap in 1min 42.553sec was the all-time record fastest at the spectacular Spa-Francorchamps circuit in the forests of the Belgian Ardennes, 0.242 seconds quicker than Vettel.

The 68th pole position for the Mercedes driver drew him level in the record books with seven-time champion Schumacher whose congratulations were conveyed to him immediately afterwards by former Ferrari technical director Ross Brawn.

Vettel, who Ferrari said on Saturday has signed a three-year contract extension, secured his front-row spot with a late and dramatic lap for Ferrari. He leads Hamilton by 14 points with nine races remaining this year. Hamilton's Mercedes teammate Finn Valtteri Bottas qualified third. (With AFP inputs)