Kimi Antonelli confirmed his great moment in the 2026 Formula 1 season by conquering the pole position of the Belgian Grand Prix this Saturday, the sixth of his campaign, after dominating the classification at the Spa-Francorchamps circuit.
The Mercedes driver set a time of 1:44.361, beating the Dutchman Max Verstappen (Red Bull) by 0.317 seconds, a difference that represents the largest advantage achieved by a polesitter so far this season.
Verstappen will start from the front row
Verstappen had his best qualifying performance of the year by placing second, making his third start from the front row in 2026.
Britain’s Lando Norris had provisionally occupied pole before the final attempts in Q3, but finished third with a time of 1:44.801. However, the McLaren driver will lose ten positions on the grid for exceeding the permitted limit of power unit components.
Mercedes maintains its dominance
With this performance, Antonelli became the first Mercedes driver to take pole at Spa since Lewis Hamilton in 2020. In addition, he is the first Italian to do so on the historic Belgian track since Giancarlo Fisichella in 2009.
The German team also continued its impressive dominance in qualifying, taking pole position in all ten races held during the 2026 season.
George Russell qualified fourth and will start with the mission of reducing the 25 points that separate him from Antonelli in the drivers’ championship. Charles Leclerc was fifth and Lewis Hamilton finished sixth for Ferrari.
Lindblad stands out again
Among the surprises of the session, Arvid Lindblad stood out, who qualified eighth and reached Q3 for the third consecutive race, establishing himself as one of the revelations of the year with Racing Bulls.
In contrast, drivers such as Liam Lawson, Pierre Gasly, Franco Colapinto, Nico Hülkenberg, Carlos Sainz and Oliver Bearman were eliminated in Q2.
The disappointment was once again Aston Martin, as Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll were eliminated in Q1 along with the two Cadillacs. None of those four drivers have managed to get past the first round of qualifying all season, and the British team was the only one unable to get under one minute and 50 seconds throughout the weekend.
Top 10 of the classification
Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes) – 1:44.361
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 Bulls) – +0.782
Gabriel Bortoleto (Audi) – +1,267
Isack Hadjar (Red Bull) – no representative time
*You will receive a penalty of ten positions for the race.
