Antonelli steals Belgian GP pole from Verstappen

The Dutchman looked to have used a late tow from teammate Isack Hadjar to perfection, vaulting to the top of the timesheets with less than 10 seconds remaining on the clock.

But Antonelli found the time when it mattered, storming across the line with a 1m44.361s to take his sixth pole position of the year and ensure Mercedes maintained its 100 percent pole position record this season.

Verstappen finished 0.317s behind the Italian, marking the largest pole margin of the season so far, with Lando Norris completing the session in third.

The reigning world champion will drop 10 places due to an engine change, however, leaving him set to start the race from 13th position.

George Russell was fourth for Mercedes, pipping the Ferraris of Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton, while Oscar Piastri could manage only seventh.

Arvid Lindblad impressed by qualifying eighth, securing the best starting position of his career, while Gabriel Bortoleto also produced a strong performance to take ninth. Hadjar completed the top 10 but will also drop back due to an engine change.

Norris set the early benchmark in the final part of qualifying before slipping back during the late runs, while Q3 was briefly red-flagged after Piastri ran wide at Stavelot and dragged gravel onto the circuit.

The interruption did little to disrupt Antonelli or Verstappen, however, with both immediately finding more time to leapfrog Norris and move ahead on the grid.

Antonelli said he was happy to take pole after a challenging session.

“It’s great to be on pole,” he said.

“It was not a very straightforward session. The track changed a lot, we were able to improve lap-by-lap and to bring home pole, which was nice. But of course tomorrow is another day.

That’s a sixth career pole for Kimi 💪

Q3 TOP 10
Antonelli
Verstappen
Norris
Russell
Leclerc
Hamilton
Piastri
Lindblad
Bortoleto
Hadjar#F1 #BelgianGP pic.twitter.com/O8h3CUwOOV

— Formula 1 (@F1) July 18, 2026

“Obviously I have Max starting next to me so it’s going to be important to get a good start and then try to get ahead into turn five.”

He added that he had been able to find extra time in the second sector on his final lap, which proved crucial to securing top spot.

“The last lap was good. I improved a lot in sector two especially. So yeah, it was a nice lap,” he said.

“Of course there was still a little bit here and there, but it was very clean.”

Verstappen said he was also happy with his starting position, adding that the tow from Hadjar had helped him significantly on his final run.

“It was definitely helping me. Otherwise I would not be standing here,” he said.

“Otherwise I think you’re like P6 or something. So I think Isack today, knowing that of course he had to start at the back of the grid, he did a really good job giving me a tow in the final sector. And that’s why we’re standing right here.

“So for sure tomorrow I think I’ll be looking in my mirrors with the people around me, but at least today I think we had a really good result.

“I think the car has been quite decent the whole weekend. Of course not on the level maybe as what Kimi was doing. But we’re happy to be on the front row with how we executed it as a team.”

Verstappen also said tyre management would be important if he was to challenge for victory.

“It’s always tough around here with the tyres in the long run, but I will just do my best and see if we can hang in there or not,” he said.

Norris, meanwhile, said he was happy with the pace of the car despite limited changes being made since the last round in Britain, although he added that he was disappointed to be dropping back on the grid.

“I mean we’ve not really changed anything. We’re just a bit quicker on this track,” he said.

“I mean nice to be standing here, just not nice knowing I have to go 10 places back tomorrow. So unfortunate that this isn’t where we’re genuinely starting tomorrow because it would be nice to have a little fight with these guys.

“But we made the most of it. It was still a very good qualifying. A very good lap from me. Honestly I’ve been pretty happy all weekend.

“It’s a little bit of a home race so it’s always a little boost here and I’ve performed well all weekend so far.

“So hopefully we can still have a good race tomorrow. We can have some fun.”

He said he was hopeful of making his way back through the field in the race.

“I don’t know how far up we’ll get but the car’s obviously performing well and good enough for P3 today. So we’ll see,” he said.

“I think there’s plenty of opportunities. It’s a long race. Hopefully it’s good for overtaking and we can put on a bit of a show for everyone.”

Antonelli topped Q2 with a 1m45.142s, finishing 0.255s clear of Leclerc, with Norris in third and Liam Lawson the biggest name to miss out on Q3 after falling short by just 0.038s.

The Kiwi came close to reaching Q3 on his final push lap but was eliminated in Q2 for the first time since the Canadian Grand Prix. He will still move up at least two places on the grid, with both Hadjar and Norris set to drop back due to grid penalties.

He was joined in Q2 elimination by the Alpine pair of Pierre Gasly and Franco Colapinto, Nico Hulkenberg, Carlos Sainz and Oliver Bearman.

Hulkenberg had further drama at the end of Q2, pulling to the side of the track on his in-lap with a hydraulic leak and causing a slight delay to the start of Q3.

Hulkenberg, who was knocked out in Q2, has to stop on his way back to the pits

A hydraulic leak the apparent cause #F1 #BelgianGP pic.twitter.com/7kWRFKk64P

— Formula 1 (@F1) July 18, 2026

Norris topped the timesheets for the first time all weekend in Q1 with a 1m45.865s, pipping the Red Bull pair by less than a tenth of a second.

The margins remained close around the Q1 cut-off, with Alex Albon falling on the wrong side after missing out on a spot in Q2 by just 0.007s.

Bearman pipped the Thai driver to the final place in the second part of qualifying, consigning Albon to his sixth Q1 elimination of the season.

Albon was joined in elimination by Esteban Ocon, the Cadillac pair of Valtteri Bottas and Sergio Perez, and the Aston Martin duo of Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll.

The Belgian Grand Prix gets underway at 3pm local time on Sunday (11pm AEST).

Results: Formula 1 Belgian Grand Prix, Qualifying