James Calado took his maiden GP3 Series pole position after narrowly beating ART teammate Valtteri Bottas in qualifying on a drying track at Spa-Francorchamps.
The session began on a drying track, with all the cars venturing out on wet tyres. Bottas, Alexander Sims and Adrian Quaife-Hobbs battled over the top spot during the first half of the session.
With ten minutes to go ART decided to switch their drivers onto slick tyres. At first Bottas was well off the pace, but the conditions eventually played into their hands. Calado went top with three minutes remaining, 1.447 seconds ahead of the rest of the field.
Bottas moved up into second place before the checkered flag, missing out on pole by just 0.088s. Nigel Melker was third, ahead of Antonio Felix da Costa and Quaife-Hobbs.
Nick Yelloly was sixth, Conor Daly seventh and Tom Dillmann eighth. Nico Muller and Lewis Williamson completed the top ten. Unlike the ART drivers, Sims could not get up to speed on slicks and had to settle for 17th place.
Series debutants Alex Fontana, Richie Stanaway and Daniel Mancinelli took 15th, 18th and 22nd respepctively.
Qualifying times:
| Pos | Driver | Team | Time | Gap | Laps |
| 1 | James Calado | Lotus ART | 2:20.146 | 12 | |
| 2 | Valtteri Bottas | Lotus ART | 2:20.234 | 0.088 | 13 |
| 3 | Nigel Melker | RSC Mucke Motorsport | 2:21.315 | 1.169 | 12 |
| 4 | Antonio Felix da Costa | Status Grand Prix | 2:22.359 | 2.213 | 13 |
| 5 | Adrian Quaife-Hobbs | Marussia Manor Racing | 2:22.689 | 2.543 | 12 |
| 6 | Nick Yelloly | Atech CRS GP | 2:22.818 | 2.672 | 12 |
| 7 | Conor Daly | Carlin | 2:22.988 | 2.842 | 12 |
| 8 | Tom Dillmann | Addax Team | 2:23.088 | 2.942 | 12 |
| 9 | Nico Muller | Jenzer Motorsport | 2:23.256 | 3.110 | 12 |
| 10 | Lewis Williamson | MW Arden | 2:23.272 | 3.126 | 13 |
| 11 | Mitch Evans | MW Arden | 2:23.439 | 3.293 | 13 |
| 12 | Michael Christensen | RSC Mucke Motorsport | 2:23.693 | 3.547 | 12 |
| 13 | Ivan Lukashevich | Status Grand Prix | 2:23.772 | 3.626 | 13 |
| 14 | Aaro Vainio | Tech 1 Racing | 2:24.106 | 3.960 | 12 |
| 15 | Alex Fontana | Jenzer Motorsport | 2:24.300 | 4.154 | 13 |
| 16 | Marlon Stockinger | Atech CRS GP | 2:24.651 | 4.505 | 12 |
| 17 | Alexander Sims | Status Grand Prix | 2:24.774 | 4.628 | 12 |
| 18 | Richie Stanaway | Lotus ART | 2:24.911 | 4.765 | 12 |
| 19 | Leonardo Cordeiro | Carlin | 2:25.172 | 5.026 | 12 |
| 20 | Rio Haryanto | Marussia Manor Racing | 2:25.496 | 5.350 | 12 |
| 21 | Maxim Zimin | Jenzer Motorsport | 2:25.560 | 5.414 | 13 |
| 22 | Daniel Mancinelli | RSC Mucke Motorsport | 2:25.857 | 5.711 | 12 |
| 23 | Simon Trummer | MW Arden | 2:26.284 | 6.138 | 13 |
| 24 | Zoel Amberg | Atech CRS GP | 2:26.917 | 6.771 | 12 |
| 25 | Dean Smith | Addax Team | 2:26.952 | 6.850 | 12 |
| 26 | Matias Laine | Marussia Manor Racing | 2:27.996 | 7.850 | 12 |
| 27 | Thomas Hylkema | Tech 1 Racing | 2:28.115 | 7.969 | 13 |
| 28 | Tamas Pal Kiss | Tech 1 Racing | 2:28.738 | 8.592 | 12 |
| 29 | Gabby Chaves | Addax Team | 2:29.743 | 9.597 | 9 |
| 30 | Callum MacLeod | Carlin | 2:29.751 | 9.605 | 11 |
