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Masterpiece by Kimi Antonelli, who will start from pole position in the Belgian Formula 1 GP, thanks to the best time achieved at the end of qualifying at Spa-Francorchamps.
The World Championship leader proved to be particularly at ease on the demanding and very fast circuit in the Ardennes, the longest of the season: after having already been the fastest in both the second and third free practice sessions, he dominated all three qualifying sessions, finishing with a lap of 1’44″361.
Antonelli ahead of Verstappen
The Bolognese Mercedes driver – at his sixth career pole, all obtained this year – preceded Max Verstappen (Red Bull) by more than three tenths, able to exploit the wake of his teammate Isack Hadjar to obtain an unexpected front row.
Lando Norris (McLaren), who took pole at Spa last year, set the third fastest time. But the 10-place penalty for replacing the control unit relegated the world champion to 13th position.
George Russell, fourth in his Mercedes, has therefore recovered and will start on the second row, ahead of Charles Leclerc’s Ferrari.
Leclerc slows down for a yellow flag
The Monegasque took his foot off the accelerator slightly at the end, deceived by the yellow flag waved by a marshall, not to report an accident, but due to the stop of Hadjar’s car on the pit lane. Third row for Lewis Hamilton and Oscar Piastri.
Antonelli’s words
Between Q1 and Q2 «we made some changes because the wind was unpredictable and made everything more difficult – Antonelli explained to Sky -. After Q1 I said to myself ‘damn, we’re in trouble’. Then I felt more comfortable. I’m happy because it was a pole that we had to earn. The car was strong all weekend, even though we had to change the set-up a lot to find the right compromise. I did a clean lap, without errors and that contributed.”
For tomorrow «I am aware that it will be difficult. I will try to make a good start, a good exit from Turn 1 and stay ahead of Verstappen at Turn 5″, after the long Kemmel straight, which favors overtaking. «Then we’ll see. But the race pace seems positive”, he concluded.
Ferrari’s statements
«Leclerc raised his foot, I don’t know what happened at the last corner, but he lost at least one position compared to Russell. But Norris will be penalized and therefore we will recover it anyway – said Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur -. The race will be long and we can recover, we are always doing better than in qualifying. We will see a good fight between the teams because there are various options on energy delivery strategies. It will be difficult for everyone.”
Leclerc admitted that the episode affected him: «I was quite annoyed at the end of my lap. The commissioner was more or less in the center of the pit lane and I thought it was a yellow flag for the last corner, so I slowed down to avoid taking any risks.”
«I don’t think we would have obtained second place – he admitted -. Maybe we would have taken the fourth, but that’s okay. It’s not that serious.”
«I didn’t see the yellow flag… there was a marshall, but he wasn’t waving it – said Hamilton instead, sent back onto the track by the Ferrari mechanics in record time, after hitting the rear of his SF-26 against a wall in the last free practice -. I’m disappointed in myself for Q3. I had a problem with the brake, but I think I gave my best, I was hoping to have a couple of tenths more.”