It was an exciting qualifying session at Spa Francorchamps with Mercedes making it 10/10 pole positions in 2026 and Antonelli's sixth career pole position. Here is what went down in all the sessions
Qualifying 1
Drivers eliminated:
17th-Alex Albon -1:47.120
18th-Esteban Ocon -1:47.801
19th-Valtteri Bottas -1:47.823
20th-Sergio Perez -1:47.971
21st-Fernando Alonso -1:50.002
22nd-Lance Stroll -1:50.177
Although their grid penalties would've put them here,it was the usual suspects at the back of the grid with the Aston Martins of Stroll and Alonso qualifying P22 and P21 for the fifth time in a row and 2 seconds slower than the newcomers Cadillac with Perez in 20th and Bottas out qualifying his teammate for just the fourth time this season. The struggles continue for Ocon as he is out-qualified by his teammate by nearly 7 tenths and only just out qualifies Valtteri Bottas by 2 hundredths of a second. The anti climatic season for Williams also continues as Albon can't get out of Q1 for the fourth time in a row with James Vowles apologising over the radio saying "You've been pretty strong all weekend we just need to give you a better car" after Albon missed out by seven thousandths of a second.
Qualifying 2
Drivers eliminated:
11th-Liam Lawson -1:46.120
12th-Pierre Gasly -1:46.331
13th-Franco Colapinto -1:46.392
14th-Nico Hulkenberg -1:46.671
15th-Carlos Sainz -1:46.777
16th-Oliver Bearman -1:46.779
It was a quiet session with the same six drivers in the elimination zone from the first runs. Liam Lawson driving the unimproved racing bull this weekend as after being outqualified by Arvid Lindblad at Silverstone meant that he drew the short straw in terms of upgrades which resulted in him missing out on Q3. Pierre Gasly also misses out on Q3 (after a crash in FP2)for the third race in a row but out qualifies his teammate Colapinto for the seventh time this season but Gasly believes that Alpine are in a "damage limitation phase" until new upgrades arrive suggesting that Alpine don't have the raw pace to fights those in front like the Racing Bulls.It was a disappointing end to qualifying for Nico Hulkenberg which saw him out and in P14 and when the session was over he suffered a hydraulic leak which delayed the start of Q3. Carlos Sainz qualifies P15 and Oliver Bearman in P16 which was probably the best result both could achieve showing how much both teams are struggling at the moment.
Qualifying 3
10th-Isack Hadjar - No time set
9th-Gabriel Bortoleto -1:45.628
8th-Arvid Lindblad -1:45.143
7th-Oscar Piastri -1:45.016
6th-Lewis Hamilton -1:44.895
5th-Charles Leclerc -1:44.893
4th-George Russell -1:44.869
3rd-Lando Norris -1:44.869
2nd-Max Verstappen -1:44.678
1st-Kimi Antonelli -1:44.361
An exciting end to qualifying but it first started with a delay due to Hulkenberg's hydraulic leak which saw him stop on track at the end of Q2. After the session restarted, the track was lit up by the first runs. It was a surprise lap by the reigning world champion Lando norris who pipped provisional pole over Kimi Antonelli by 0.039 seconds as the top 4 were covered by under 2 tenths of a second.
Before the second runs could take place the red flag was brought out briefly due to gravel kicked up supposedly by Oscar Piastri down near Stavelot so the stewards had to give the track a quick sweep. Going into the final runs Red Bull were playing a smart game in letting Isack Hadjar give Max Verstappen a tow in the final sector to give Verstappen a chance of pole as Hadjar will be starting from the back of the grid due to component changes anyway. This strategy seemed to have payed off as Max Verstappen went to the top of the timing screens before Kimi Antonelli stole the show and stormed to pole position by the largest margin of the 2026 season of 3 tenths of a second.
The same couldn't be said for his teammate who qualified half a second behind Antonelli and will start 3rd after Lando Norris's 10 grid place penalty. The reason for George Russell's struggles are in conclusive as when asked about it, it seems that he has run out of options for what it could be claiming that "we’ve just been dealing with an issue with the straight-line speed ever since Silverstone, and we thought we found the problem – changed it, it wasn’t the problem. We thought it was the driving style, and tried different driving styles, it wasn’t the solution.".Despite cutting the gap to Antonelli to 25 points it seems that his struggles continue to haunt him and he can't seem to get an edge over his teammate.
The Ferrari's line up on the fourth row after being separated by only 2 thousandths of a second despite Lewis Hamilton's late crash in FP3 which left the mechanics with a fight against the clock to get the car ready for qualifying. last year's winner, Oscar Piastri will line up on the grid as the lead Mclaren ahead of Arvid Lindblad who set the fastest first sector in the final runs giving him an outside shot at pole but in the end the time fell away. Despite this he will have his highest ever start in P7 thanks to a variety of grid penalties for his rivals. Bortoleto was the slowest of those who set a time and will start P8 and after having not set a time to aid Verstappen Hadjar qualified 10th but will start at the back of the grid.
starting grid after a flurry of penalties
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