Antonelli takes his sixth pole of the season, Mercedes reach ten consecutive poles for the fifth time and Verstappen overtakes Senna on the list of most front row starts. Here are the facts and statistics from qualifying at the 2026 Belgian Grand Prix!
ANTONELLI ON POLE AT THE 2026 BELGIAN GRAND PRIX
Kimi Antonelli secured pole position for the 2026 Belgian Grand Prix, taking the sixth pole of his Formula 1 career. He is the 51st driver to record as many as six Grand Prix poles; equalling the career tallies of current drivers Carlos Sainz and Oscar Piastri.
Antonelli secured pole position by 0.317 seconds, the largest pole margin of the 2026 season so far.
Mercedes secured pole position for the tenth consecutive race weekend. This is the 11th time that a team has taken as many as ten poles in a row in F1 history, as well as the fifth time that Mercedes have done so.
Antonelli is the first Mercedes driver to take pole position at the Belgian Grand Prix since Lewis Hamilton in 2020.
This was Antonelli’s first Q3 appearance at Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps. He qualified 18th and exited in Q1 last year.
IN THE TOP TEN
Max Verstappen qualified on the front row for the third time this season, after the Miami and Monaco Grands Prix.
The 2026 Belgian Grand Prix marks Verstappen’s 88th front row start, seeing him overtake Ayrton Senna for fourth place on the list of most front row starts in the sport’s history.
Qualifying third for the 2026 Belgian Grand Prix, Lando Norris equalled his best qualifying result of the season to date – though he will take a ten-place grid penalty. This was the first time he qualified in the top three since the 2025 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
George Russell qualified fourth. His three pole positions in Canada, Barcelona and Austria are his only top three qualifications in the last seven race weekends.
With Charles Leclerc qualifying fifth and Lewis Hamilton sixth, this was the first time since 2021 that neither Ferrari driver qualified in the top three positions for the Belgian Grand Prix.
Oscar Piastri qualified seventh for the fourth time in the last five races. This was the first time Piastri qualified outside of the top six in his four appearances at Spa-Francorchamps.
Gabriel Bortoleto reached Q3 for the third time this season, qualifying in the top ten for the first time since the Japanese Grand Prix. Qualifying ninth, he equalled his best qualifying result of the year so far.
This is the second year in a row that Bortoleto has reached Q3 at the Belgian Grand Prix.
Bortoleto recorded the best Belgian Grand Prix qualifying result for the former Sauber team since Kimi Raikkonen qualified eighth in 2019.
Arvid Lindblad reached Q3 for the third race weekend in a row and qualified eighth – a new career-best qualifying result.
Failing to set a lap time in Q3, Isack Hadjar qualified tenth – his worst qualifying position of the year to date. It was his worst qualifying result since failing to set a lap time in qualifying for the 2025 United States Grand Prix.
Oscar Piastri, Isack Hadjar and Gabriel Bortoleto maintained their 100% Q3 appearance rates at the Belgian Grand Prix, while Arvid Lindblad joined them in the group.
ELIMINATED IN Q2
Both Alpine drivers exited in Q2 at the 2026 Belgian Grand Prix, making this the fourth race weekend in a row at which neither Pierre Gasly nor Franco Colapinto have progressed to Q3.
This was the fifth season in a row that Pierre Gasly has been eliminated in Q2 at the Belgian Grand Prix.
Liam Lawson qualified in 11th, missing out on a slot in Q3 by 0.038 seconds. It ended a streak of four successive Q3 appearances.
Carlos Sainz recorded his seventh Q1 exit in the last eight Grand Prix weekends.
Nico Hulkenberg exited in Q2 for the ninth time this year. His Q3 appearance at the Barcelona Grand Prix is the only time so far in 2026 that he has not been eliminated in Q2.
With Ollie Bearman qualifying 16th and Esteban Ocon out in Q1, 2019 remains the last time that a Haas driver reached Q3 at the Belgian Grand Prix.
OUT IN Q1
Both Aston Martin drivers and both Cadillac drivers were eliminated in Q1 for the tenth consecutive race weekend.
This is the fifth race weekend in a row at which Aston Martin have set the two slowest lap times in Q1.
This is the second year in a row that both Aston Martin drivers have been eliminated in Q1 at the Belgian Grand Prix.
Lance Stroll set the slowest lap time in Q1 at Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps for the second year in succession.
Sergio Perez recorded a Q1 exit at the Belgian Grand Prix for the first time in his 15 visits to Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps. He reached Q3 on all of his previous ten appearances here.
Esteban Ocon was eliminated in Q1 for the fifth time in the last six Grand Prix weekends.
Ocon qualified 18th for the 2026 Belgian Grand Prix – his worst qualifying result of the season to date. The 2025 Singapore Grand Prix was the last time he qualified further down the grid.
This was the first time Ocon recorded a Q1 exit at the Belgian Grand Prix since making his F1 debut at the track with Manor in 2016. He qualified 18th both times.
Alex Albon qualified 17th for the 2026 Belgian Grand Prix, recording his sixth Q1 exit of the season.
This was Albon’s second Q1 exit at the Belgian Grand Prix, having first recorded a Q1 elimination here in 2023. It was his worst qualifying result to date at Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps.