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Kimi Antonelli claimed his sixth Formula 1 pole position of the season in Belgian Grand Prix qualifying, beating Max Verstappen by 0.317 seconds in a decisive final run.
The Mercedes driver set a 1m44.361s lap to reassert the team’s grip on qualifying. Verstappen had briefly moved to the top after using a “tow and a half” from Isack Hadjar, but Antonelli found three tenths on his own final attempt. No rival could get close across the closing laps.
The result puts Antonelli alongside Verstappen on the front row, although the Red Bull driver praised his team’s use of Hadjar for the slipstream. Hadjar, carrying grid penalties for power unit changes, did not set a qualifying time and will start from the last row.
Lando Norris had looked like the driver to beat after the opening Q3 runs, finding 0.039s on Antonelli’s first effort. Charles Leclerc was also within the same hundredth, keeping Ferrari in contention before the final runs.
A red flag interrupted the session while gravel was cleared from the track at Stavelot. Once qualifying resumed, Antonelli and Verstappen moved ahead of Norris. The McLaren driver’s opening lap nevertheless secured third in the session after he abandoned his second attempt following a run across the gravel at Turn 13.
Norris will not start there. His 10-place grid penalty means he drops to 12th, as detailed in the latest report on his Belgian Grand Prix penalty. George Russell therefore moves to third, alongside Leclerc on the second row.
Lewis Hamilton qualified sixth after his end-of-Q3 crash and will move to fifth, alongside Oscar Piastri. Piastri improved late to move ahead of Arvid Lindblad, who starts an impressive seventh beside Gabriel Bortoleto.
Liam Lawson missed the top 10 by four-hundredths to Bortoleto and finished half a second behind Racing Bulls team-mate Lindblad. Lawson was not running the team’s updated car, with only one set of parts available.
Both Alpines reached Q2, with Pierre Gasly qualifying 12th and Franco Colapinto 13th. Nico Hulkenberg’s car stopped during his in-lap with a hydraulic leak, delaying Q3, while Carlos Sainz and Oliver Bearman were separated by only 0.002s in the Q2 drop zone.
Alex Albon was eliminated in Q1 after both Alpine drivers improved. Esteban Ocon, Valtteri Bottas and Sergio Perez followed, with Bottas leading Cadillac. Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll completed the order, although Alonso will start at the back after power unit changes.
He’s a software engineer with a deep passion for Formula 1 and motorsport. He co-founded Formula Live Pulse to make live telemetry and race insights accessible, visual, and easy to follow.
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