Antonelli claims pole for Belgian Grand Prix pipping Verstappen

Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli will take pole position on Sunday’s Belgian Grand Prix as the Italian pipped Red Bull’s Max Verstappen to the top spot of the grid.

Feature image credit: Mercedes F1

Antonelli has sealed his sixth career pole position at the 2026 Belgian Grand Prix, held at the iconic Spa-Francorchamps, as the Italian championship leader pipped Red Bull’s Max Verstappen to the top grid position.

The Italian had shown strong pace for most of the weekend, claiming fastest laps across FP2 and FP3 on Friday and Saturday, respectively. This form continued into qualifying, despite going only eighth fastest in Q1, with the Italian beating the rest with a one-minute 44.361-second lap around the 7km circuit.

Verstappen finished the session in second place, making great use of the slipstream provided by his teammate Isack Hadjar, who will start this weekend’s race from the back of the grid, sacrificing his runs through Q3 – failing to set a lap time on the board.

Kimi Antonelli fastest in final Belgian Grand Prix practice as Hamilton crashes

On his final run, the Dutchman claimed provisional pole, but was quickly dethroned by Antonelli, who managed to go 0.317 seconds faster than the multiple world champion.

McLaren’s defending world champion, Lando Norris, finished third overall, 0.44s off Antonelli over one-lap pace. However, the world champion will serve a 10-place grid penalty after exceeding his allowance of power unit components.

It means Mercedes’ fourth-placed George Russell will now start Sunday’s race in third, on the second row, ahead of the two Ferraris of Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton, who will be promoted to fourth and fifth overall.

Nico Hulkenberg, of Audi, was the only retirement of the session, at the end of Q2. Whilst Gabriel Bortoleto was able to progress into Q3, qualifying ninth overall, Hulkenberg was only able to finish 14th at the end of the second third. At the end of his qualifying session, the German driver was ordered to pull his car off the circuit due to a hydraulic leak.

Belgian Grand Prix: Full starting times for F1 weekend

So, who qualified where for the Belgian Grand Prix?

Provisional Classification:

1. Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes
2. Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing
3. Lando Norris, McLaren*
4. George Russell, Mercedes
5. Charles Leclerc, Ferrari
6. Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari
7. Oscar Piastri, McLaren
8. Arvid Lindblad, Racing Bulls
9. Gabriel Bortoleto, Audi
10. Isack Hadjar, Red Bull Racing* 
11. Liam Lawson, Racing Bulls
12. Pierre Gasly, Alpine
13. Franco Colapinto, Alpine
14. Nico Hulkenberg, Audi
15. Carlos Sainz, Williams
16. Oliver Bearman, Haas
17. Alexander Albon, Williams
18. Esteban Ocon, Haas
19. Valtteri Bottas, Cadillac
20. Sergio Perez, Cadillac
21. Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin*
22. Lance Stroll, Aston Martin*

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Kamron Kent

Hi, I’m Kamron. I created ApexMotorsports.co.uk in the dying embers of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. It allowed me freedom to write whatever I wanted to write about which was all things motorsports, my passion.

I have put a lot of effort in over the years to keep this website in its best shape and I’ve loved seeing the brand grow consistently, month-on-month, year-on-year. My ambition is to keep watching this brand grow into a primary outlet of news for all things motorsports whilst fueling my desire to pursue a career in sports journalism, specialising in motorsports.

Kamron Kent

Hi, I'm Kamron. I created ApexMotorsports.co.uk in the dying embers of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. It allowed me freedom to write whatever I wanted to write about which was all things motorsports, my passion. I have put a lot of effort in over the years to keep this website in its best shape and I've loved seeing the brand grow consistently, month-on-month, year-on-year. My ambition is to keep watching this brand grow into a primary outlet of news for all things motorsports whilst fueling my desire to pursue a career in sports journalism, specialising in motorsports.