Fraser MasefieldKimi Antonelli took another important pole position for the Belgian Grand Prix as he looks to bounce back from his unfortunate DNF at the British GP.
A quickest lap time of 1m44.361s put him .440s ahead of Max Verstappen, who benefitted from a nice tow from Red Bull teammate Isack Hadjar.
“Yeah, I mean, it’s great to be on pole,” said Antonelli afterwards. “It was not a very straightforward session. The track changed a lot.
What an end to Qualifying in Spa! 🍿 pic.twitter.com/f216Fp7jqj
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“But, yeah, we were able to improve lap by lap and I had to bring home pole, which was nice. The last lap was good. I improved a lot in sector two especially. So very happy with that.
“Of course, tomorrow is another day. Obviously, I have Max starting next to me, so it’s going to be important to get a good start and then try to get, you know, be ahead into turn five.”
Lando Norris was third on the lap times but takes a ten second grid penalty for making changes to his McLaren.
It means that George Russell moves up to third on the grid from the Ferrari duo of Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton.
Oscar Piastri is a disappointing seventh in the second McLaren as Arvid Lindblad, Gabriel Bortoleto and Hadjar round out the top ten.
“It was definitely helping me [Hadjar’s tow], otherwise I would not be standing here, I think you’re like P6 or something,” added Verstappen.
“So, yeah, I think Isack today, knowing that of course he had to start in the back of the grid, he did a really good job giving me a tow in the final sector and that’s why we’re standing right here.
“For sure, tomorrow I think I’ll be looking in my mirrors at the people around me. But at least today I think we had a really good result.
“I think the car honestly has been quite decent the whole weekend.
“It’s not on the level maybe as what Kimi was doing, but yeah, we’re happy, of course, to be on the front row with how we executed it as a team.”
The starting grid for the 2026 Belgian Grand Prix 🇧🇪#F1 #BelgianGP pic.twitter.com/pPPJPP6HPR
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