Kimi Antonelli takes Belgian GP pole, beating Max Verstappen

Kimi Antonelli will start the 2026 Belgian Grand Prix from pole position after dominating qualifying at the Spa-Francorchamps circuit on Saturday, July 18. The 19-year-old Mercedes driver, who leads the championship, set a blistering lap time of one minute and 44.361 seconds to beat Red Bull's Max Verstappen by 0.317 seconds.

Verstappen will start alongside Antonelli on the front row, but the grid behind them has been significantly reshuffled by engine penalties. Defending world champion Lando Norris qualified third for McLaren but will drop ten places, promoting Mercedes' George Russell and Ferrari's Charles Leclerc to the second row. Lewis Hamilton, who crashed his Ferrari in final practice but recovered to qualify fifth, and McLaren's Oscar Piastri will start from the third row.

The penalties create a mixed grid for Sunday's race. Norris will start 13th. Red Bull's Isack Hadjar and Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso, who also took on new power unit elements, are required to start from the back of the grid. They will line up behind Aston Martin's Lance Stroll and Williams' Carlos Sainz, who also received ten-place grid drops.

Antonelli's pole position was his sixth of the season...