2026 Belgian GP Qualifying Review
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What made Kimmi Antonelli’s pole position at Spa so dominant?
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Hello and a very warm welcome to the Late Breaking F1 podcast presented by Sam Sage and me, Ben Hocking, reviewing Belgian GP qualifying today. A qualifying session at one out by Kimmy Antonelli of Mercedes. Not the first time this year we've been able to say that about a qualifying session, joined on the front row by the Red Bull of Max Verstappen, albeit some three-tenths away. Uh I guess not a massive surprise given it's the longest circuit on the calendar, Sam, but that is the biggest poll margin we've had in twenty twenty six so far.
Yeah, not the first time, not the second time, but the third, the fourth, the fifth. But it's actually the sixth pole position so far. We're only at round ten. My man has sixty percent of pole positions to his game so far. Mercedes again on pole for the tenth time this season, of course, Russell taking the other four. They are dominant, and I'm not surprised that Mercedes have stretched their legs here at Spa, the longest track. But wasn't without a fight being put up. It's quite fascinating the way that Red Bull approached this. I'm glad they did approach it in quite a different way. Of course, Isaac Hajar taking a whole host of penalties due to some parts being put on the car going on to the the weekend, which means it's got to start at the back of the grid.
But it didn't mean we saw this interesting toe dynamic, which we've not seen for a little while from a top team um when they really tried to go at it for a pole position. Yeah, I think. But Kimmy Antonelli, the confidence that he exudes in that Mercedes, the way he's flicking the steering into every corner and the car just sticks for him. He's on another level at the moment, like another plane of racing at this point. It's so natural to him. He came over the radio one of the sessions to Bono, and this was the tell. The balance felt much better at that point. It was like you you 1.2 seconds was the difference between Q1 and Q2. He is astrologic. Trendombically good right now.
He was two seconds clear in Q three versus his Q one time. Like that is and a lot of the other drivers had similar, but that uh the tracking uh track involvement was quite high today. But from Antonelli's side in particular, it was really quite astonishing. It's not the first time we've seen as well when it comes to Antonelli. He looks very dominant through the practice sessions, particularly as we got into the final part of practice. didn't really set a good lap when the conditions were at their best in P3, but was still was still clear. And then we get to qualifying, at least the first part of qualifying, and it looks like it's all sort of come back together a little bit more the field. And then Antonelli late on delivers this this wonderful lap that I again, I know this is the longest circuit on the calendar, but being three temps clear of your opposition, being half a second clear of your teammate, that deserves a lot of respect.
Um and I think Not that we've got a great idea on race pace around this track because there's so much focus on on one lap runs in practice. We also had a red flag in uh in FP two, which didn't help that. based on what we've seen so far this year, there's every chance he will he will hold on to that and go on to another victory. But we'll have to wait until tomorrow to see if that comes true. Um yeah, very impressive. We saw Mercedes, I think, quite quick in the first sector all the way throughout, and we were quickly mentioning this before we hit record, the the fascination between different sectors and who's strong where, Mercedes definitely seemed to have a grip on that first sector.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
What made Kimmi Antonelli’s pole position at Spa so dominant?
0:00–5:36
2
How did Red Bull use slip‑stream (tow) tactics to improve Verstappen’s Q3 laps?
5:36–10:32
3
Why did Antonelli’s performance stand out compared to his Mercedes teammate?
10:32–15:38
4
What were the key sector‑by‑sector strengths of Mercedes, Red Bull and McLaren at Spa?
15:38–20:45
5
How did Ferrari’s upgrades affect Leclerc’s and Sainz’s qualifying results?
20:45–25:05
6
Why did Alpine and Aston Martin struggle in the top ten despite recent upgrades?
25:05–29:21
7
What caused the biggest teammate time gaps (e.g., Ocon vs. Bearman, Gasly vs. Bortoleto)?
29:21–33:35
8
What predictions did the hosts make for the race day and how can listeners join the discussion?
33:35–36:52