Championship leader Kimi Antonelli took his sixth pole of the 2026 Formula 1 season at the Belgian Grand Prix. Mercedes has taken pole for all 10 Grands Prix in 2026.
Antonelli holds a 25-point lead in the Drivers’ Championship ahead of his teammate George Russell.
Antonelli led the championship by as much as 66 points following the Monaco Grand Prix. He has lost ground to Russell in each of the last three races following a DNF at the Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix, a third-place finish at the Austrian Grand Prix, and a 15th-place finish at the British Grand Prix.
Coverage of the Formula 1 Belgian Grand Prix begins at 8:55 a.m. on Sunday. Watch LIVE on TSN5, TSN.ca, and the TSN App.
Red Bull’s Max Verstappen will start alongside Antonelli on the front row. Verstappen won at Spa-Francorchamps three years in a row from 2021 to 2023. 2026 is the first time since 2017 that Verstappen has not won a race in the first nine rounds of the Formula 1 World Championship.
Russell qualified fourth but will start third because of a 10-place grid penalty to reigning World Champion Lando Norris. Russell has finished in the top two at each of the last three races, including a win at the Austrian Grand Prix.
Norris qualified third but will start 13th due to a 10-place grid penalty. McLaren fitted his car with a new Power Electronics (PE) unit. It’s his fourth PE unit of the season, exceeding the allotment of three before a penalty.
Verstappen’s teammate Isack Hadjar will start 21st thanks to a 30-place grid penalty due to a new Internal Combustion Engine (ICE), Turbocharger, and Exhaust. He qualified 10th after not setting a time in Q3. Instead, Hadjar gave Verstappen a tow, which helped him qualify on the front row.
Hadjar will start ahead of Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso, who is also taking a grid penalty for using a new Energy Store (ES), Control Electronics (PU-CE), and Ancillary Component (PU-ANC).
Ferrari drivers Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton qualified fifth and sixth, respectively. Both will benefit from the grid penalty to Norris. Hamilton sits third in the Drivers’ Championship, seven points behind Russell.
Leclerc is coming off his first win since the 2024 United States Grand Prix. The Monegasque’s win at the British Grand Prix moved him up to fourth in the Drivers’ Championship.
Last year’s race winner Oscar Piastri qualified seventh and will start sixth due to the penalty to his teammate Norris.
The pole-sitter has not won at Spa-Francorchamps since Verstappen won in 2021. However, Verstappen set the fastest qualifying time in 2022 and 2023, but did not start on pole either time due to grid penalties.
