Antonelli Tops Spa Qualifying as Red Bull Finds P2

Red Bull’s qualifying plan at Spa centered on a tow strategy that helped Max Verstappen reach the front row of the Belgian Grand Prix grid. Isack Hadjar backed off on both of his Q3 laps to give Verstappen a slipstream to the final chicane, and Verstappen took second place with a 1:44.678, 0.317 seconds behind Mercedes pole-sitter Andrea Kimi Antonelli. Verstappen said Hadjar’s tow was important to the result, and Hadjar said helping Verstappen was the right thing to do. Hadjar did not complete a Q3 lap and will start Sunday’s race from the back of the grid after multiple power unit component changes and a significant penalty later in the weekend.

Verstappen said Red Bull’s car had been quite decent all weekend and that he was happy with how the team executed qualifying. The team also ran Verstappen with a revised rear wing after recent qualifying crashes, and Red Bull used Hadjar’s car to provide the slipstream on both of Verstappen’s Q3 runs. Fans said Red Bull had done everything possible, but Antonelli was still too fast to catch. Verstappen matched his best grid position of the season with the P2 result.

The encouraging qualifying showing followed a strong Friday practice session for Red Bull. Verstappen topped FP1 and was third in FP2, less than half a second behind Antonelli, while Hadjar was fourth in FP1 and fifth in FP2. Verstappen said the RB22 had good balance right away but still needed fine-tuning, and he warned the team was losing time on the straights. Red Bull also saw better signs on longer runs with medium tires, while technical director Pierre Waché said the team had identified the mechanical cause of the rear-wing problem and hoped to return to the original rear wing soon, with safety the top priority.