Mercedes team driver Kimi Antonelli secured a remarkable pole position at the Belgian Grand Prix, beating his colleague and title challenger, George Russell, who came fourth with more than half a second of disadvantage. The result was recorded on Friday, July 18, 2026.
Antonelli, who currently leads the drivers’ championship with a 25-point advantage over Russell, managed to be 0.317 seconds faster than Red Bull’s Max Verstappen. The four-time Dutch champion even had the help of his teammate Isack Hadjar’s vacuum.
Lando Norris, from McLaren, had a surprising performance, reaching third place, with a time 0.440 seconds lower than the pole position, even after abandoning his car on the final lap. However, the driver will face a penalty of 10 positions on the starting grid for having used a greater number of engine components than permitted.
The Ferrari duo, Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton, secured fifth and sixth places, respectively. They were ahead of McLaren’s Oscar Piastri and Racing Bull’s British rookie Arvid Lindblad, who showed good performance with recent upgrades to his car.
Russell expresses frustration with straight-line speed issue
Since Friday’s free practice, Antonelli was already considered the main competitor, and he confirmed projections by taking his sixth pole position in just ten races this season.
On the slowdown lap, the driver took the opportunity to wish his father, Marco, who was celebrating his 61st birthday on Saturday, well.
Antonelli commented on the session: “In Q1, I felt a little difficulty, as the wind intensified and the car became less stable, but qualifying was improving. We made some changes to the front wing for Q2. Q3 was positive because we managed a good initial lap and, on the second attempt, I gained considerable time. It was a successful lap.”
Russell, for his part, said: “My lap was good. However, we have been experiencing a problem with straight speed since the Silverstone stage.”
He added that the team believed they had identified the cause of the issue, but this was not the truth, and that they then considered it to be an aspect of riding style, which also did not prove correct.
“After an in-depth analysis of the data, I feel optimistic about the work I did. Just looking at the details, my performance was excellent.”
The British driver concluded, highlighting the difficulty of competing with his teammate: “It is extremely challenging to fight Kimi in normal conditions. With this situation, it becomes impossible. The team is trying hard to understand what is happening, as it could be a multitude of factors.”
Qualification strategies in Belgium: the vacuum as a differentiator
The Red Bull team used Isack Hadjar to provide Max Verstappen with a boost on the long full-throttle straight before the final chicane. This strategy was possible because the French driver was already facing a 30-place penalty on the starting grid for exceeding the limit of engine changes allowed for the season.
Verstappen confirmed that the benefit of slipstream provided an advantage of 0.3 seconds per lap.
He added: “It certainly helped me, otherwise I wouldn’t be in this position, maybe I’d be sixth or something like that.”
The Dutch driver concluded: “Knowing the punishment and that Isack would start the race defending, he helped me. I will review my performance tomorrow, but we are pleased to be at the front, given the way we worked as a team on this strategy.”
Belgian Grand Prix Details
Lando Norris and the McLaren team did not have high expectations when arriving at Spa-Francorchamps, anticipating that they would maintain their fourth position on the grid.
However, the car’s performance was consistent throughout the weekend, and Norris demonstrated particularly strong pace, being 0.215 seconds quicker than Piastri, even without completing a second flying lap.
“We didn’t make any significant changes, we were just a little faster on this circuit,” explained Norris, who will start the race in 13th position. “It’s a shame we won’t start further ahead, but the race is long and offers many chances to overtake. We hope to have a good result tomorrow.”
Charles Leclerc had recorded the second fastest time after the first fast laps, being just 0.053 seconds behind Antonelli. However, Ferrari was unable to maintain this pace, and neither he nor Hamilton were able to improve their times in the second attempts.
Leclerc, who had won the previous race at Silverstone, finished 0.532 seconds from pole position, with a minimum difference of just 0.002 seconds in relation to Hamilton.
Lindblad’s performance in the updated Racing Bull was remarkable — the driver is the only one to rely on this version, as there were not enough components for a second car. He finished qualifying just 0.127 seconds behind McLaren’s Oscar Piastri.
Gabriel Bortoleto and Isack Hadjar, both from Audi, completed the top 10. However, Hadjar will start in 21st place due to his penalty for exceeding the engine parts limit, which resulted in a nominal loss of 30 positions.
He sits just ahead of Aston Martin driver Fernando Alonso, who also faces his own 20-place engine-related penalty.
Starting grid: top 10 in qualifying
- Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes) – 1m44s361
- Max Verstappen (Red Bull) +0.317
- Lando Norris (McLaren) +0.440*
- George Russell (Mercedes) +0.508
- Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) +0.532
- Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari) +0.534
- Oscar Piastri (McLaren) +0.655
- Arvid Lindblad (Racing Bull) +0.782
- Gabriel Bortoleto (Audi) +1,267
- Isack Hadjar (Red Bull)*
