Antonelli Takes Spa Pole, Verstappen Gives Red Bull Front Row
NXTbets Pro | Published On: July 18, 2026
Antonelli takes pole
Mercedes driver Andrea Kimi Antonelli put himself at the front of the Belgian Grand Prix field with a Q3 lap of 1:44.361, and Max Verstappen followed in second at 1:44.678, 0.317 seconds back. Red Bull used Isack Hadjar’s car to give Verstappen a tow on both of his Q3 runs, and Hadjar backed off to help him through to the final chicane. The plan paid off. Verstappen earned a front-row spot and said the slipstream mattered to the result. Hadjar, who did not complete a Q3 lap, said helping Verstappen was “the right thing to do.” He will start the race from the back of the grid after multiple power unit component changes.
Verstappen said he was happy with how Red Bull executed the session and called the car “quite decent” all weekend. The result gave Red Bull the kind of return it needed after a competitive qualifying fight at the front. Antonelli set the pace on the decisive lap and Verstappen stayed within striking distance, but the final margin still belonged to the Mercedes rookie. Red Bull’s approach with Hadjar gave Verstappen the track position he needed to line up on the front row, and the team left qualifying with a clear gain from the collaboration across its two cars.
Verstappen finds speed
The speed was there from the opening runs. Verstappen set the fastest time in FP1 at Spa, while Hadjar put his car fourth in the same session. Hadjar stayed close again in FP2, where he finished fifth. Verstappen ended FP2 in third, less than half a second behind Antonelli, which kept Red Bull in the mix before qualifying even started. That early form matched Verstappen’s own assessment of the car. He said the team had a solid starting point for qualifying, that the day was a good one and that the RB22 had good balance right away. He also said the package still needed fine-tuning.
Verstappen pointed to the areas where Red Bull still had work to do. He said the car was losing time on the straights, even though it felt strong through the corners. That split picture shaped the rest of the day. Red Bull saw more encouraging signs on longer runs with medium tires, a useful marker as the team sorted through its setup ahead of qualifying. The broader technical backdrop also mattered. Red Bull identified the mechanical cause of the rear-wing problem that forced a specification change, and the team wants to return to the original rear wing soon. Safety remains the top priority. That left Red Bull with a cleaner picture by the end of the session, a quicker car in the corners, a clearer path on the mechanical side and a qualifying result that kept Verstappen near the front.
