Kimi Antonelli beats Max Verstappen to pole in red-flagged F1 Belgian GP qualifying

Andrea Kimi Antonelli beat Red Bull’s Max Verstappen to pole position at the Belgian Grand Prix as Mercedes continued its unbeaten qualifying streak in the 2026 Formula 1 season. 

F1 championship leader Antonelli secured pole position with a spectacular final Q3 lap to end up 0.317 seconds clear of Verstappen, who threatened to end Mercedes’ run of qualifying success with a late improvement. 

But Antonelli, who also topped two of the three practice sessions at Spa-Francorchamps, snatched pole back from Verstappen despite the four-time world champion gaining a tow off Red Bull team-mate Isack Hadjar. 

2026 F1 Belgian GP: Full qualifying results

It marked the largest pole margin of the 2026 season so far and was the sixth pole of the year for Antonelli, who heads into Sunday’s grand prix looking to extend his 25-point lead over Mercedes team-mate George Russell, who will start third. 

Lando Norris was third-fastest and 0.440s off Antonelli but the reigning world champion will start 13th after serving a 10-place grid penalty due to McLaren fitting a fourth battery in his MCL40. 

It was a disappointing qualifying for Ferrari as Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton ended up over half a second off the pace in fifth and sixth respectively, though both drivers will each move up a spot on the grid thanks to Norris’s penalty. 

McLaren’s Oscar Piastri took seventh after causing a red flag when he ran wide on his first lap of Q3 and flicked gravel onto the racing line. 

Arvid Lindblad capitalised on a big upgrade for Racing Bulls to claim an impressive eighth, with the F1 rookie well clear of Audi’s Gabriel Bortoleto. 

Hadjar did not set a time and sacrificed his qualifying in order to provide Verstappen with a tow, with the Red Bull driver set to start at the very back of the grid after changing his power unit. 

Liam Lawson, who does not have the benefit of Racing Bulls’ upgrade at Spa, just missed out on a spot in the top-10 in P11. 

Pierre Gasly was 12th-fastest, ahead of Alpine team-mate Franco Colapinto and Audi's Nico Hulkenberg, while Carlos Sainz outpaced Haas driver Ollie Bearman to grab 15th place in his Williams. 

Alex Albon failed to join his Williams team-mate in Q2 as he could only manage 17th, ahead of Esteban Ocon, who was once again outperformed by Haas stablemate Bearman in qualifying. 

Valtteri Bottas got the better of Sergio Perez as the Cadillacs took 19th and 20th, over two seconds clear of the Aston Martins of Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll. 

Alonso and Stroll have both taken grid penalties for exceeding their power unit allocation, but the Aston Martin pair are set to actually move up a spot on the grid for Sunday’s race due to Hadjar automatically being sent to the very back. 

The Belgian Grand Prix gets underway at 1400 UK time on Sunday.