Spa-Francorchamps once again lived up to its reputation as one of the ultimate qualifying challenges, and Kimi Antonelli rose to the occasion in spectacular fashion. The Mercedes youngster delivered a breathtaking final lap to secure pole position, beating Max Verstappen by more than three tenths of a second and reinforcing his status as the standout performer of the 2026 season. It marked Antonelli’s sixth pole position in just ten rounds, extending Mercedes’ perfect qualifying record this year.
The Italian had been the benchmark throughout the weekend. After finishing fastest in both Friday’s second practice session and Saturday’s final practice despite interruptions and changing track conditions, Antonelli entered qualifying as the favourite. Even so, the challenge was immense, with Verstappen, Lando Norris and the Ferraris all showing the pace to fight for the front row around the legendary Belgian circuit.
Qualifying itself was anything but straightforward. Antonelli survived a scrappy opening segment before finding his rhythm in Q2, where he immediately looked untouchable. In the decisive Q3 shootout, Verstappen briefly appeared to have the upper hand after benefiting from a perfectly executed slipstream provided by teammate Isack Hadjar. However, when it mattered most, Antonelli produced an astonishing lap of 1:44.361, comfortably reclaiming the top spot with the largest pole margin seen all season.
Although Lando Norris initially qualified third, the McLaren driver will start much further back after receiving a ten-place grid penalty for exceeding power unit allocations. That promotes George Russell to third on the grid, giving Mercedes a formidable one-three start, while Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton line up behind after Ferrari recovered impressively from Hamilton’s heavy crash during final practice earlier in the day.
Further down the order, Oscar Piastri could manage only seventh after struggling to extract the maximum from his McLaren, while Red Bull’s strategic use of Hadjar to provide Verstappen with a tow became one of the biggest talking points of the afternoon. Hadjar himself will start from the back following multiple grid penalties, adding another layer of intrigue to Sunday’s race.
For Antonelli, however, Saturday belonged entirely to him. On one of the most demanding circuits in world motorsport, the championship leader once again demonstrated remarkable maturity, precision and raw speed. With pole position secured and Mercedes looking exceptionally competitive over a race distance, the young Italian heads into Sunday’s contest as the clear favourite to add another victory to what is already becoming an extraordinary campaign.
MiniDrivers
2026 Beligum
Qualifying
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