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Kimi Antonelli reclaimed pole position in Round 10 of the 2026 Formula 1 season at the Spa-Francorchamps Circuit ahead of the Belgian Grand Prix on Saturday morning.

Antonelli secured the top spot from Max Verstappen with a stunning final flying lap, beating the Red Bull driver by 0.317 seconds. The championship leader and four-time World Drivers’ Champion will line up alongside the young Mercedes driver on the front row, marking Verstappen’s third front-row start of the season.

Lando Norris, who set the fastest time in Q1, qualified third but will drop to 13th on the grid after receiving a 10-place penalty. McLaren changed the power electric unit in Norris’ MCL40, triggering the sanction.

With Norris’ penalty, Mercedes’ George Russell moves up to third after qualifying fourth. Russell’s Q3 lap time was 0.508 seconds slower than his teenage teammate’s, as the Mercedes pair continue adapting to the team’s latest MGU-K system tweak with differing levels of success.

The Ferrari contenders, Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton—each with one victory this season—qualified fifth and sixth and will start fourth and fifth respectively on Sunday.

Defending Spa winner Oscar Piastri endured a tough qualifying session and will begin the race from sixth position.

Arvid Lindbald was the only Racing Bulls driver to make it into Q3 this weekend and will start seventh after qualifying eighth.

Gabriel Bortoleto delivered his best qualifying performance yet for Audi, securing ninth on the timesheets and starting eighth on the grid.

Norris isn’t the only driver hit with a heavy grid drop this weekend. Three other drivers received major grid penalties, with Red Bull’s Isack Hadjar being the only one among them to reach Q3.

Hadjar will start from the back of the grid in 22nd after a 30-place penalty for exceeding his power unit component quota. Red Bull fitted a fifth internal combustion engine, turbocharger, and exhaust system to his RB22. Aware of his inevitable penalty, Hadjar chose not to set a Q3 lap time and instead assisted Verstappen by providing a slipstream to boost his teammate’s qualifying performance. Verstappen later acknowledged that the tow played a crucial role in his front-row result.

“It definitely helped me,” Verstappen told F1TV about Hadjar’s assistance. “Otherwise, I wouldn’t be standing here. Without that, I think we’d be around P6 or so. So yes, knowing he had to start from the back, he did a really good job giving me a tow in the final sector, and that’s why we’re here now.”

“For sure, tomorrow I’ll be watching my mirrors closely with the drivers around me, but today we can be pleased with the result. The car has honestly felt quite strong all weekend,” Verstappen added.

Following grid adjustments for Norris and Hadjar, Racing Bulls’ Liam Lawson and Alpine’s Pierre Gasly will start ninth and tenth respectively.

The other two drivers demoted to the back, Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll, had already qualified near the rear. Both received 15-place grid penalties for additional component changes on their AMR26 cars. They will start just ahead of Hadjar, who will occupy the final grid position.