Belgian Grand Prix Qualifying: Unstoppable Kimi Antonelli on pole, Max Verstappen tried but failed
F1 NewsSaturday, 18 July 2026 at 17:00
Kimi Antonelli took pole for the 2026 Belgian Grand Prix despite Red Bull Racing and Max Verstappen's best efforts to deny him that employing the slipstreaming game with the help of Isack Hadjar.
With Hadjar taking a 30-place grid penalty for taking new power unit components, it was logical for Red Bull Racing to use him to maximize the chances of Verstappen by giving him the slip stream.
But so good was Antonelli in his Mercedes, that the Milton Keynes' efforts fell short as the Italian still managed to clinch pole by a massive three tenths, especially given Verstappen having a tow.
Lando Norris was third fastest in the McLaren, a surprise performance from the reigning Formula 1 Champion who was on provisional pole after the first runs in Q3.
However, the Briton will have to start from 13th on the grid after serving his penalty due to his additional power electronics unit.
There was nothing positive for George Russell who was half a second off the pace of his teammate and in fourth as his struggles continued.
Ferrari's form from Silverstone seemed a far memory as Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton were fifth and sixth respectively separated by 0.032s.
Leclerc showed some pace in Qualifying but could not deliver when it mattered while Hamilton didn't seem to gel with his rebuilt Ferrari after his FP3 crash.
Another driver that couldn't deliver was Piastri, chasing Norris all weekend, and eventually seventh fastest, 0.655s from pole.
Arvid Lindblad was an impressive eighth in his Racing Bulls ahead of Gabriel Bortoleto in ninth.
Hadjar was ninth fastest, but will drop to the back of the grid.
What the top three said
Antonelli's sixth pole in 2026 was the best gift he could give to his father who was celebrating his birthday and said "Happy Birthday" over the radio on the cool down lap.
Speaking after that in parc ferme, Antonelli said: "It's great to be on pole. It was not a very straightforward session, the track changed a lot. But we were able to improve lap by lap and to bring home pole, which was nice.
"But tomorrow is another day and obviously I have Max starting next to me so it's going to be important to get a good start and then be ahead into Turn Five.
"The last lap was good. I improved a lot in sector two especially so it was a nice lap. Of course there was still a little bit there and there. But happy with that," he concluded.
Verstappen touched on the slipstream Hadjar gave him saying: “It was definitely helping me, otherwise I would not be standing here. Otherwise I think I would be like P6, or something.
“So, I think Isack today, knowing that has 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.
“For sure, tomorrow I think I’ll be looking in my mirrors at the people around me, but at least today we had a really good result.
“I think the car has been quite decent the whole weekend, not on the level maybe that Kimi was doing. But we’re happy to be on the front row with how we executed as a team," the Dutchman concluded.
"We've not really changed anything but we're a bit quicker on this track," Norris added. "It's nice to be standing here just not nice knowing I have to go 10 places back tomorrow.
"Unfortunate that this isn't genuinely where we are starting tomorrow because it would be nice to have a little bit of a fight with these guys but we made the most of it.
"It was still a very good qualifying, a very good lap for me. Honestly, I've been pretty happy all weekend. It's a little bit of a home race for me, so always a bit of a boost and I've performed well all weekend so far.
"So hopefully we can still have a good race tomorrow and have some fun. That's certainly the plan [to fight through the field]," Norris concluded.
Q1: No drama, No surprises...
Conditions were a bit hotter as the drivers head out for the start of Qualifying with track temperatures at 39 degrees Celsius and air temperature at 22 degrees.
Ferrari's mechanic did a good job and made sure the #44 SF-26 was back in one piece before Q1 was given the green light after Hamilton's crash in FP3.
Lewis is ready for quali 💪
— Formula 1 (@F1) July 18, 2026
Great job from the Ferrari mechanics after his FP3 crash 👏#F1 #BelgianGP pic.twitter.com/ZwMgbwtSrB
Lance Stroll made his way out on track first followed Valtteri Bottas and Sergio Perez followed in the Cadillacs.
Perez was warned about a tail wind at Les Combes at the end of the Kemmel straight.
The rest of the cars made their way out with less than 15 minutes remaining with the Alpines leading the pack.
Verstappen was the first of the big boys to start a timed lap and Antonelli followed in the Mercedes with Russell further behind them.
Verstappen went fastest after his first effort, as Antonelli went second behind him with Russell slotting in third.
Verstappen posts the fastest lap of the weekend with his opening Q1 effort 💪#F1 #BelgianGP pic.twitter.com/fTGYAsC3D4
— Formula 1 (@F1) July 18, 2026
Lindblad went second fastest as Leclerc came along went fourth with Hamilton following to take only seventh as Hadjar went second.
Hamilton radioed saying his tyres lost a lot of temperature in the garage.
The came the McLarens with Piastri seventh fastest as Norris took first from Verstappen.
The order after the first runs was: Norris - Verstappen - Hadjar - Lindblad - Antonelli - Leclerc - Russell - Piastri - Liam Lawson - Hamilton - Bortoleto - Carlos Sainz - Pierre Gasly - Oliver Bearman - Nico Hulkenberg - Alex Albon.
In the drop zone: Franco Colapinto - Esteban Ocon - Perez - Bottas - Fernando Alonso- Stroll.
⏳ SEVEN MINUTES TO GO IN Q1 ⏳
— Formula 1 (@F1) July 18, 2026
TOP 10
Norris
Verstappen
Hadjar
Lindblad
Antonelli
Leclerc
Russell
Piastri
Lawson
Hamilton 📸#F1 #BelgianGP pic.twitter.com/kabHNRmbSN
With less than five minutes remaining, the cars were unleashed for the second round of laps in Q1. Norris, Verstappen, and Hadjar stayed behind.
With the second runs over, Norris' time remained the best, a 1:45.865, 0.065s faster than Verstappen in second with Hadjar third and 0.197s away.
The rest of the top 16: Hamilton - Russell - Lindblad - Leclerc - Antonelli - Piastri - Lawson - Bortoleto - Gasly - Colapinto - Hulkenberg - Sainz - Bearman.
Albon was the first to be eliminated from Q1 as he missed out to Bearman by a painful 0.007s and was 17th.
Ocon, on his tenth year anniversary in Formula 1 was 18th in the Haas with Bottas in 19th ahead of Perez in 20th.
Alonso and Stroll were 21st and 22nd in the Astons.
Q2: An upgraded VCARB puts you in Q3
Both Alpines followed by both Mercedes led the remaining 16 cars out on track to kick off Q2 three minutes after the green light was illuminated.
Norris, Hamilton, and Hulkenberg were the last three drivers to get out.
Antonelli started the big four battle with his first timed lap and went fastest, as Russell came behind him and was second, half a second away.
The Italian radioed saying the "balance came together much nicer" on his way back to the garage.
Then Hadjar came along and went third with Verstappen taking second as Piastri followed in third.
The Lindblad slotted in third as Norris finished his lap and was second with Leclerc beating that while Hamilton was only fourth.
Norris slots into P3 after the first Q2 runs
— Formula 1 (@F1) July 18, 2026
TOP 10
Antonelli
Leclerc
Norris
Hamilton
Verstappen
Lindblad 👏
Piastri
Russell
Hadjar
Bortoleto#F1 #BelgianGP pic.twitter.com/bEN3sMMhRX
In the drop zone: Lawson - Gasly - Hulkenberg - Colapinto - Sainz - Bearman.
With four minutes remaining, Hadjar left the garage, the first driver out there to start the second round of laps in Q2.
Hamilton, on the other hand, was out of the car as Ferrari mechanics were doing some work around in the cockpit. Antonelli, Norris, and Verstappen stayed behind.
Hamilton has hopped out of his Ferrari as the mechanics make adjustments to his car
— Formula 1 (@F1) July 18, 2026
He's currently P4#F1 #BelgianGP pic.twitter.com/UdSaQztQKg
In the end, Antonelli with his lap time of 1:15.142 was top of the pack who made Q3 with Leclerc 0.255s behind him in second as Norris was third, less than a tenth behind the Ferrari.
The rest of the top ten: Hamilton - Verstappen - Lindblad - Piastri - Russell - Hadjar - Bortoleto.
Out of Qualifying: Lawson was 11th, losing out by 0.038s, while Gasly was 12th in the Alpine, followed by Colapinto, 13th in the sister car.
Hulkenberg was 14th fastest in the Audi with Sainz and Bearman 15th and 16th respectively.
However, the German stopped his Audi on the side of the track as he was making his way back to the pits as his engineer instructed him to park it due to a hydraulic leak.
The marshals removed the stricken Audi fairly quickly from the track.
Hulkenberg, who was knocked out in Q2, has to stop on his way back to the pits
— Formula 1 (@F1) July 18, 2026
A hydraulic leak the apparent cause #F1 #BelgianGP pic.twitter.com/7kWRFKk64P
Q3: Verstappen and Red Bull tried...
After a bit of delay due to Hulkenberg's breakdown, the top ten shootout was on with Hadjar starting his first lap first. Verstappen and and Antonelli we behind.
Hadjar bailed out on his lap to give Verstappen a tow as the Dutchman went fastest, but Antonelli went fastest as Russell was third.
Hadjar is giving Verstappen a tow in the opening Q3 run 👀#F1 #BelgianGP pic.twitter.com/pozZ7YWG6P
— Formula 1 (@F1) July 18, 2026
Lindblad then took fourth with Leclerc going second fastest and Piastri going fifth as Hamilton was fourth.
The Norris came in fastest, on provisional pole, but will have to drop ten places due to the additional power electronics unit he had to take ahead of the Belgian Grand Prix.
Order after round 1 f Q3: Norris - Antonelli - Leclerc - Verstappen - Hamilton - Russell - Piastri - Lindblad - Bortoleto - Hadjar.
With cars back to the pits, the Red Flag was out with six minutes remaining to clear some gravel due to Piastri going off at Turn 14.
With less that five minutes remaining, and the track gravel free, the final laps on Saturday afternoon in Spa were on.
Verstappen started first with Hadjar ahead of him to give him the slipstream. Antonelli followed and Russell also chasing.
Verstappen took provisional pole momentarily but Antonelli takes that from him with Norris bailing out on his final run after a mistake, third fastest which will become 13th.
Russell was fourth fastest in the second Mercedes ahead of Leclerc in fifth as Hamilton was sixth.
Piastri was seventh in the other McLaren as Lindblad was eighth with Bortoleto and Hadjar ninth and tenth respectively.
Hadjar starts from the end of the grid after taking new power unit components worth 30 grid positions.
Belgian Grand Prix Qualifying Provisional Classification
Latest News
Loading
