#F1 #BelgianGP #Qualifying: #Antonelli pips @Max33Verstappen to pole by 0.317s.

Antonelli Belgian GP Pole – Championship leader Andrea Kimi Antonelli scored his sixth-career pole position pipping Red Bull’s Max Verstappen by 0.317 seconds at the Belgian GP as reigning World Champion Lando Norris completed the top three but will start ten places back due to a 10-grid-placed-penalty for a new Control Electronics component.

In Q3, the initial flyers saw Red Bull’s Isack Hadjar lead the pack out.

The Frenchman due to his looming penalty gave the slipstream to Verstappen as the four-time World Champion posted the benchmark of a 1:44.984 then Antonelli jumped to P1 on a 1:44.840 as Russell ended up third and 0.316 down.

Leclerc jumped to second on a 144.893 with three personal bests and was demoted to third Norris hit provisional pole with a 1:44.801 after setting a purple middle sector.

Hamilton with three personal bests ended up fifth and ahead of Russell on a 1:45.062.

The session was stopped with six minutes and six seconds due to gravel on-track after Piastri dipped a wheel at Stavelot.

After the gravel was cleared and short delay ended, the final hot-laps saw Hadjar lead the pack out once again potentially to give the slipstream to his team-mate Verstappen.

Verstappen jumped to P1 with a 1:44.678 but Antonelli pipped the Dutchman to take pole with a 1:44.361 and 0.317 seconds ahead.

McLaren’s Norris qualified third with his 1:44.801 effort but will start 12^th for tomorrow’s Belgian GP due to his 10-grid-placed-penalty for taking on a new Control Electronics element.

Russell ended up fourth with a 1:44.869 and in-front of both Ferrari’s with Charles Leclerc and Sir Lewis Hamilton unable to improve on their times to end up fifth and sixth respectively.

McLaren’s Oscar Piastri took seventh and ahead of RB’s Arvid Lindblad who placed eighth whilst Audi’s Gabriel Bortoleto and Red Bull’s Hadjar completed the top ten.

Hadjar will start at the back of the grid due to taking on a fifth Internal Combustion Engine, Turbocharger and Exhaust System aboard his RB22 racer.

In the second qualifying stage, which was topped by Antonelli, RB’s Liam Lawson missed out on a Q3 appearance by a slim 0.038 seconds and wounding up 11^th.

Alpine pairing Pierre Gasly and Franco Colapinto followed in 12^th and 13^th respectively as the other Audi of Nico Hulkenberg placed 14^th.

Hulkenberg stopped at the end of Q2 due to a hydraulics leak.

Williams’ Carlos Sainz and Haas’s Oliver Bearman were the slowest of the Q1 eliminatees in 15^th and 15^th.

In the opening segment, which was topped by Norris, A late improvement from Colapinto eliminated Williams’ Alexander Albon with the Thai-Briton driver ending up 17^th and missing out on Q2 by a very slim 0.007 seconds.

Haas’s Esteban Ocon ended up 18^th and in-front of Cadillac duo Valtteri Bottas and Sergio Perez who were 19^th and 20^th respectively.

Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll brought up the rear with both drivers having penalties this weekend for taking on a new fourth energy store and control electronics (Alonso) and fourth MGU-K (Stroll).

You can see the full Formula 1 Moet & Chandon Belgian Grand Prix 2026 Qualifying Results Classification at the link: https://www.formula1.com/en/results/2026/races/1290/belgium/qualifying

2026 Belgian GP Qualifying – The Top Three

2026 Belgian GP Pole Position – Andrea Kimi Antonelli, #12, Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula 1 Team, F1 W17 – 1:44.361:

“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. Tomorrow is another day, with max starting next to me it will be important to geta good start and be ahead into Turn 5. The last lap was good. It was a nice lap. It was very clean, so very happy.”

2^nd Place – Max Verstappen, #3, Oracle Red Bull Racing, Ford-RBPT, RB22 – 1:44.678:

“[The tow] was definitely helping me, otherwise I would not be standing here, I would be P6 or something. Isack did a really good job. Tomorrow I will be looking in my mirrors but today was a decent result. It is always tough around here with the tyres, but I will do my best to see if we can hang in there.”

3^rd Place – Lando Norris, #1, McLaren Mastercard Formula 1 Team, Mercedes, MCL40 – 1:44.801:

“We haven’t changed anything, we are just quicker on this track, unfortunate that this is not where we are genuinely starting tomorrow as would be nice to be fighting with these guys. I’ve been happy all weekend, so hopefully we can still have a good race tomorrow. The car is performing well, good enough for P3 today so we will see. Hopefully we will put on a god show for everyone.”

2026 F1 World Championship Standings