F1 Belgium 2012: Watch Live Stream Online of Formula One Grand Prix; Prediction, Preview

When and where: The Formula One Belgian Grand Prix gets underway at 8 a.m. ET. Coverage will be provided by Speed. Live timing and statistics will be available on Formula1.com. Viewers in the U.K. can watch a live stream via the BBC iPlayer.

Preview: Jenson Button claimed his first pole position for more than three years after a dominating performance in qualifying for the Belgian Grand Prix. In the first racing action for five weeks, the McLaren driver recorded three separate laps all within around a tenth of a second of each other as he finished 0.298 seconds of his nearest challenger Kamui Kobayashi.

In keeping with the theme of this season, it was another unpredictable qualifying session as world champion Sebastian Vettel qualified in 11th. Pastor Maldonado qualified third in his Williams ahead of Kimi Raikkonen, Sauber's Sergio Perez, Fernando Alonso, Mark Webber and Button's team mate Lewis Hamilton.

"It's been so long since my last pole position that it almost feels like a win for me! In fact, it's my first pole since Monaco 2009--which was a race that I won--and it demonstrates that I can qualify really well," Button said, according to the Formula1 website.

Button added that he was pleased to see the McLaren's upgrades taking immediate effect.

"I'm surprised that the new rear wing is working so well, but the engineers also did a great job with the balance," he said.

It was a disappointing day all-round for Red Bull. Although Webber qualified in seventh, he will start in 12th after serving a five-place grid penalty for an out-of-sequence gearbox change.

"I'm disappointed," Webber admitted afterward. "We would like to have been higher up the grid to take the sting out of the penalty, but we'll have to see what we can do tomorrow. We weren't quick enough and couldn't challenge for the front row today."

Red Bull's day was positively impressive when compared to that of Mercedes', however.

Nico Rosberg was also given a five-place grid penalty for a gearbox change meaning his disappointing 18th on the grid becomes an even lowlier 23rd. Michael Schumacher did no fare much better and will start from 13th.

Maldonado later discovered he had been awarded a three-place grid penalty after being found guilty of impeding Force India's Nico Hulkenberg. That change means that Ferrari's Alonso will attempt to defend his maintain his 40-point championship lead from fifth on the grid.

Prediction: Button looked supreme in qualifying and should have the edge again on race day to claim his second victory of the year. Look for Alonso to emerge as a challenger while the Red Bull's be interesting to watch as they come through the field.