Antonelli takes pole position at Spa-Francorchamps

Andrea Kimi Antonelli will start from pole position at the Belgian Grand Prix after dominating qualifying at the iconic Spa-Francorchamps circuit. The 19-year-old Mercedes driver, who leads the championship, clocked a blistering lap time of 1 minute, 44.361 seconds.

Antonelli's performance secured his sixth pole position of the season, placing him ahead of four-time world champion Max Verstappen of Red Bull, who qualified second. Lando Norris of McLaren initially took third but will start from 13th due to a ten-place grid penalty for a battery change.

This shuffle promotes George Russell of Mercedes and Charles Leclerc of Ferrari to the second row. Lewis Hamilton of Ferrari will start fifth, followed by Oscar Piastri of McLaren. Further down the grid, several other drivers incurred significant penalties, including Isack Hadjar, who dropped 30 places, and Liam Lawson and Pierre Gasly, who moved up into ninth and tenth respectively.

Notable adjustments also affect Argentinian driver Franco Colapinto, who moves up to eleventh, and Spaniard Carlos Sainz, who will start fourteenth. Fernando Alonso and Sergio Pérez will start 21st and 22nd, respectively.