Antonelli claims pole at Spa ahead of Verstappen – Norris drops back after penalty

Behind Antonelli, Max Verstappen lined up in the Red Bull, 0.317 seconds behind the Italian. The Dutchman benefited from the slipstream of his teammate Isack Hadjar, who gave him a decisive advantage on the fast Ardennes rollercoaster. "Trotzdem muss ich mich bei Isack bedanken. Ohne ihn wäre ich nie in die erste Startreihe gekommen," said Verstappen. Hadjar himself made a similar comment: "Ohne ihn wäre ich vielleicht Fünfter oder Sechster geworden." Hadjar, however, will start the race from the back row due to a grid penalty.

Verstappen benefits from the slipstream

Third on the classification was the McLaren of Lando Norris, who was 0.440 seconds off the best time. The Briton, who heads into the weekend as reigning world champion, however received a ten-place penalty because parts on his car were replaced that, according to the regulations, should not have been changed. As a result, George Russell in the second Mercedes moves up to grid position three. Russell had been 0.508 seconds behind his teammate Antonelli in qualifying and kept the two Ferraris narrowly behind him.

Norris loses places through penalty

Charles Leclerc secured fifth place in qualifying in the Ferrari, 0.532 seconds behind Antonelli. The Monegasque was only two thousandths of a second faster than his teammate Lewis Hamilton, who finished sixth. Hamilton was 0.534 seconds off pole. Due to Norris's demotion, both Ferraris move up to the second row, meaning Leclerc will start from position four and Hamilton from five.

In the drivers' standings, Antonelli leads by 25 points over his Mercedes teammate Russell ahead of the Belgian weekend. Hamilton follows a further seven points behind. Verstappen lies seventh in the overall standings, 103 points adrift, underscoring the situation ahead of the tenth round of the season.

Bortoleto inherits grid slot eight

The Brazilian Gabriel Bortoleto in the Audi caused a stir in the midfield, sneaking into Q3 as tenth. Since Hadjar did not set a time in the final segment and Norris dropped back through the penalty, Bortoleto inherited grid slot eight. "Bortoleto startet von Position 8," it was said. In Q3 itself, however, the Audi driver was unable to set a competitive time.

Saturday was less happy for Bortoleto's teammate Nico Hülkenberg. The German had to stop his car at the end of Q2 due to a hydraulic leak, which additionally delayed the continuation of qualifying. In the end, Hülkenberg could only count fourteenth and thus last place in qualifying as his result.

Hülkenberg with hydraulic problem

Verstappen was satisfied with the team result despite the narrow defeat to Antonelli. "Wir sind zufrieden, dass wir in der ersten Reihe stehen und wie wir das als Team umgesetzt haben," the four-time world champion said. His Red Bull team had made optimal use of the situation to be well up with both cars.

Antonelli already turned his attention to the race and warned of the competition right next to him. "Morgen zählt es und Max startet neben mir. Ich hoffe, dass ich einen guten Start hinbekomme," the Italian said. Given the long straights at Spa and the tactical possibilities, the Grand Prix is considered particularly demanding for the starting position.

Outlook on Sunday's race

The Belgian Grand Prix will start on Sunday at 3:00 p.m. local time and is the tenth race of the 2026 Formula 1 season. In Germany and Austria, ServusTV and Sky will broadcast the race live; in Switzerland, coverage on SRF zwei begins at 2:20 p.m.

With his sixth pole of the season, Antonelli further extends his lead in the pole position statistics and underlines his role as one of the dominant drivers of the current season. Should he win the Grand Prix, he would further extend his lead in the world championship.

Despite his clear underdog role in the overall standings, Verstappen goes into the race with a realistic chance of victory. The slipstream advantage from qualifying could once again play an important role on the long straights of Spa-Francorchamps, for example when braking into the first corner La Source.

For Mercedes, the double result in qualifying represents an important tactical advantage. From third place, Russell can try from a strategic point of view to put Verstappen under pressure during the race and secure Antonelli's lead. The team from Brackley thus travels to Belgium as the clear favorite for race victory.

Despite his third place in qualifying, Norris must start from position 13 and therefore has only slim chances of scoring points unless unforeseen events in the race help. The Briton will try to make up as many places as possible with an aggressive strategy in order to prevent his points gap from growing further.

Overall, qualifying at Spa-Francorchamps shows that Antonelli can defend his top position in the world championship on a track that is traditionally regarded as a litmus test for drivers. The combination of best time, tactical discipline and the support from Russell makes Mercedes the clear favorite for Sunday's race.