The Dutchman qualified second at Spa-Francorchamps, finishing 0.317s behind pole sitter Kimi Antonelli after using a late tow from Red Bull teammate Isack Hadjar on his final Q3 lap.
But despite securing a place on the front row, Verstappen was left unimpressed by the experience of driving the circuit under the new regulations, particularly through the high-speed middle sector.
The 2026 power units feature a significantly greater reliance on electrical energy, forcing drivers to manage deployment and harvesting throughout the lap.
Spa was expected to expose some of the biggest challenges presented by the new rules due to its long straights, high-speed corners and relative lack of heavy braking zones in which electrical energy can be recovered.
Verstappen said the car was relying almost entirely on its internal combustion engine through much of the second sector, leaving it with dramatically reduced power despite retaining Formula 1 levels of downforce.
“Well, I mean, for most of sector two, you run just on the engine, so what is that? Four hundred and fifty, five hundred horsepower, something like that, which is, I guess, more or less what a Formula 3 car has, but with F1 downforce,” Verstappen said.
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“So, you can imagine, of course, that that is not very exciting to drive.”
Verstappen has been one of the most outspoken critics of the new regulations since the beginning of the season but jokingly suggested he was reluctant to launch another extended attack on the cars.
“But honestly, I don’t want to sit here and complain again because probably someone will shoot me outside the door,” he said.
The four-time world champion said he had instead attempted to accept the characteristics of the cars and focus on extracting the most from the machinery available to him.
“Like I said before, I’m mentally just adjusting to it, and I’m trying to make the best out of it, even though, of course, it’s not what I like or what I love to do in Formula 1,” he said.
“But I can also sit at home and drive nothing, and that also doesn’t do anything, so I’m just trying my best.”
Particular attention had surrounded how the new cars would behave through Pouhon, one of Spa’s most famous and demanding corners.
The fast double left-hander has traditionally presented a significant challenge to drivers, although the reduced deployment under the current regulations made the corner considerably easier during qualifying.
Antonelli revealed that his Mercedes stopped deploying electrical energy after the apex, reducing the speed carried through the remainder of the corner.
“Yes, from the apex afterwards, we had no deployment, so it was easy. It was flat all the way. It was not like last year,” Antonelli said.
Verstappen argued the change in character was not limited to Pouhon, instead describing the entire circuit as fundamentally different under the 2026 regulations.
“I mean, it’s not Turn 24. It’s the whole track. It’s a different Spa, but I mentally readjust to it,” he said.
Lando Norris offered an equally blunt assessment after qualifying third for McLaren.
“It’s not a corner anymore. It was easy flat,” Norris said.
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Verstappen’s comments followed a qualifying session in which he briefly appeared to have secured pole position after jumping to the top of the timesheets with less than 10 seconds remaining.
Hadjar provided Verstappen with a tow through the final sector, helping him move ahead of Norris and the two Mercedes drivers on his last attempt.
Antonelli responded moments later with a 1m44.361s to claim his sixth pole position of the season and maintain Mercedes’ perfect qualifying record in 2026.
Verstappen acknowledged after the session that the tow had been crucial to placing him on the front row.
“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.”
The Belgian Grand Prix gets underway at 3pm local time on Sunday (11pm AEST).
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