Antonelli puts Mercedes on pole at Belgian GP

Kimi Antonelli put Mercedes on pole for the Belgian Grand Prix at Spa-Francorchamps, setting a 1:44.361 in a dramatic qualifying session and edging Max Verstappen by 0.317 seconds. Lando Norris was third quickest but took a 10-place grid penalty for using a fourth control electronics set, promoting George Russell, Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton on the grid. Isack Hadjar also dropped to the back after taking new power-unit components, while Lance Stroll and Fernando Alonso were among the other drivers penalized.

Spa had already been shaped by strong Mercedes pace in the run-up to qualifying. Antonelli topped both final practice sessions and led FP2, while Verstappen led FP1, Hamilton was second and Leclerc third. Hamilton then crashed heavily at Fagnes in final practice, damaging the rear of his Ferrari before the team repaired it for qualifying. Pirelli expected Sunday’s 44-lap race to favor a one-stop strategy, with a medium-to-hard tyre plan likely to be fastest unless safety cars or other interruptions changed the picture. Rain remained possible after wet weather arrived at the end of Sunday morning’s F2 feature race.

The F2 support races also delivered plenty of drama. Rafael Câmara won the Feature Race for Invicta Racing after a poor start, multiple Safety Cars, a Red Flag and shifting tyre strategies; Alexander Dunne crossed the line second but was classified fourth after a penalty, Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak took his first F2 podium in second, and Nikola Tsolov was promoted to third. Joshua Duerksen won the sprint from fourth on the grid, and the weekend left Tsolov leading the championship on 161 points, ahead of Minì on 134, while Invicta moved to 161 in the teams’ standings.