Antonelli claims sixth pole of the season as Norris runs wide late in Q3
- Kavi Khandelwal
- 3 hours ago
- 5 min read
Formula One arrives at round ten of the 2026 season with Spa-Francorchamps living up to its reputation for unpredictable weather, Saturday bringing cooler, more settled conditions than Friday's practice sessions.
Lewis Hamilton's afternoon got off to the worst possible start when his Ferrari clipped the barrier at Turn 13 in the closing moments of final practice, a near mirror image of Pierre Gasly's crash at the same corner a day earlier.
With his crew racing to patch the car up in time, the grid head into qualifying for one of the longest and most demanding laps on the calendar.
Q1
Lance Stroll was first out on track, though his session – and Fernando Alonso's – was already compromised before a single lap counted, with both carrying ten-place grid penalties into Sunday's race.
Valtteri Bottas set the opening benchmark on his first flying lap with a 1:50.011, before the pace picked up sharply through the session. Max Verstappen went top with a 1:45.930, only for Kimi Antonelli to slot in just behind him with a 1:46.304, 0.116s clear of George Russell in third.
Arvid Lindblad, flying all weekend at Spa, was just 0.261s off Verstappen's pace. Reigning world champion Lando Norris then went quickest of all with a 1:45.865 – though like Stroll and Alonso, he arrives at Sunday's grid already carrying a ten-place penalty of his own.
Hamilton struggled to find his rhythm early on, with the Ferrari driver reporting over the radio, "We lost a lot of temperature in the garage," as his tyres cooled in the pit lane and he couldn't find the right temperature.
Into the second runs, Antonelli was the first out on the same set of tyres, going 1:46.617. Hamilton hauled himself upto fourth and Russell up to fifth, from tenth and seventh respectively. Pierre Gasly went fastest in the third sector to climb from 16th to 12th.
Alex Albon was eliminated in Q1 for the sixth time in ten grands prix this season.
Q1 eliminations
Alex Albon
Esteban Ocon
Sergio Pérez
Valtteri Bottas
Fernando Alonso
Lance Stroll
Q2
Haas' Oliver Bearman was first out for the second segment, while Russell was told to change his engine strategy mode as he left the pit lane due to an error. Franco Colapinto set the opening benchmark with a 1:47.086, though it wouldn't survive for long.
Antonelli went fastest in all three sectors to top the times with a 1:45.142, with his teammate 0.547s adrift. Gabriel Bortoleto slotted in ahead of the Alpine, 0.940s off Antonelli's pace. Norris showed strong form too, sitting 0.312s behind the championship leader, while Oscar Piastri was a further 0.529s back in turn.
The young Italian reported praise about the car's balance on the radio as he said "Balance came much nicer."
At Racing Bulls, Lindblad continued to have the edge over teammate Liam Lawson, going half a second quicker – 0.532 off the pace – with the rookie still benefitting from a set of upgrades not yet fitted to Lawson's car. Lawson also reported more wheel-spin than he wanted out of the tighter sections, costing him further time on his lap.
In the second runs, Isack Hadjar set the first time of the round with a 1:45.823, While Hamilton was seen climbing out of his car for cockpit adjustments. Antonelli, Norris, Verstappen and Hamilton all chose to stay in the garage rather than head back out.
Both Alpine drivers found themselves within two tenths of climbing out of the elimination zone, but neither could find the pace required.
The session ended with Antonelli setting the pace, ahed of Charles Leclerc, Norris, Hamilton and Verstappen. Bortoleto's progress into Q3 marked the first time he has reached the top ten since round three of the season.
Hülkenberg pulled to the side of the track on his way back to the pits after being eliminated, climbing out of the car after his race engineer reported a hydraulic leak over the radio.
Q2 eliminations
Liam Lawson
Pierre Gasly
Franco Colapinto
Nico Hülkenberg
Carlos Sainz
Oliver Bearman
Q3
The reigning world champion headed out on a fresh set of tyres, immediately setting himself up as a threat for pole. Hadjar was first out on track, only to abandon his own flying lap and give teammate Verstappen a tow down the straight instead – a piece of team strategy executed perfectly by Red Bull, given Hadjar's own thirty-place grid penalty meant there was nothing to gain from a competitive lap of his own.
Running just behind his teammate, Verstappen went fastest with a 1:44.984, before Antonelli responded with a 1:44.840. Verstappen briefly split the two Mercedes before Leclerc moved up into second. Norris then went to the top of the times altogether with a 1:44.801, 0.039s clear of Antonelli, who admitted he was surprised to hear his rival had gone quicker.
A replay showed Piastri, set to start seventh, brushing the gravel, and the session was red-flagged to allow marshals to clear the run-off. Through the stoppage, the gap between the two title-contenting constructors became clear – Ferrari held advantage on the straights, McLaren in the corners.
For the final runs, Hadjar was first out again, followed once more by Verstappen, who benefitted from a second tow from his teammate to move into provisional pole with a 1:44.678. He also thanked the team and his teammate on the radio, saying, "Well done. That was really, really well executed, so thank you guys for that. I don't really start that often up front in Spa, so that's also nice."
Antonelli answered immediately, going fastest of all with a 1:44.361 to claim pole position – sixth of his career. Russell could not find enough to match his teammate, ending qualifying fourth, and Leclerc's final effort wasn't enough to shift him from fifth. Piastri's earlier off left him seventh.
Norris, meanwhile, abandoned his final run altogether, running wide into the gravel at T13 – the same corner that had already caught out Gasly on Friday and Hamilon in the final practice.
Antonelli's late lap secures pole and hands Mercedes the momentum heading into Sunday, with Verstappen alongside him on the front row. Norris, despite qualifying third, will start the race from P13 due to his penalty.
With the title race tightening by the week, can pole position be enough to hold off his rivals around one of the calendar's most demanding circuits?
Belgian Grand Prix Starting Grid
Kimi Antonelli
Max Verstappen
George Russell
Charles Leclerc
Lewis Hamilton
Oscar Piastri
Arvid Lindblad
Gabriel Bortoleto
Liam Lawson
Pierre Gasly
Franco Colapinto
Nico Hülkenberg
Lando Norris
Carlos Sainz
Oliver Bearman
Alex Albon
Esteban Ocon
Sergio Pérez
Valtteri Bottas
Lance Stroll
Isack Hadjar
Fernando Alonso
Comments