Antonelli beats Verstappen to Belgian GP pole

Championship leader Kimi Antonelli beat Max Verstappen to pole position for the Belgian Grand Prix after a tense conclusion to qualifying at Spa-Francorchamps.

Antonelli dominated practice but Lando Norris was on provisional pole after the first Q3 runs only for Antonelli and Verstappen to topple the McLaren driver.

Verstappen benefitted from a big slipstream with the help of Red Bull team-mate Isack Hadjar, who starts at the back due to a power unit change, but missed out on pole to Antonelli by 0.317s.

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Antonelli absorbed the pressure of being favourite with a strong final lap and has a big opportunity to extend his 25-point lead in the Drivers' Championship over George Russell, who qualified fourth and was half a second down on his team-mate.

Norris will start 13th because of a 10-grid place penalty for exceeding his control electronics allowance - an element of the power unit - so Russell will move up to third on the grid.

Russell has been struggling all weekend, strangely losing time on the straights which may be down to his driving style in the corners, and will hope the long flat out run after the first corner will give him a chance to perhaps challenge Antonelli and Verstappen for the lead on what should be a thrilling first lap when the lights go out at 2pm on Sunday (build-up from 12.30pm), live on Sky Sports F1.

Ferrari will be disappointed as Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton will start fourth and fifth, making it difficult for the Scuderia to continue their recent winning form.

Hamilton crashed heavily in final practice but Ferrari were able to change his suspension, floor and gearbox in time for qualifying with no impact on the car's performance.

British teenager Arvid Lindblad had his best qualifying in eighth as he continues his impressive rookie season, with McLaren's Oscar Piastri in seventh and Audi's Gabriel Bortoleto in ninth.

How Antonelli delivered under serious pressure

Antonelli has seen his championship lead cut over the last three rounds, primarily due to misfortune of car unreliability but it has still felt like he's got momentum over closest title rivals Russell and Hamilton due to his searing pace. He has been flying all weekend at Spa-Francorchamps too but left it late to deliver in qualifying.

Norris delivered a spectacular lap on the first runs in Q3 to pip Antonelli by 0.039s but felt he got everything out of his car. Nevertheless, he was on provisional pole and a red flag for gravel on the track only built the tension ahead of the last runs.

Due to Hadjar knowing he was starting at the back, Red Bull elected to use him to tow Verstappen in Q3 through the largely flat out final sector into the last chicane.

They did not quite get it right on the first run but perfected it for the second run as Verstappen got a huge increase in speed in behind his team-mate to get onto the front row - something he thought was not possible without the slipstream.

"It was definitely helping me, otherwise I would not be standing here. Otherwise I think I would be like P6, or something," said Verstappen.

But Verstappen was only briefly on pole as Antonelli made a front wing change that paid off as he delivered a superb lap to beat the field by over three tenths.

"It was not a very straightforward session, the track changed a lot. But we were able to improve lap by lap and to bring home pole, which was nice," said Antonelli.

Norris overpushed and went wide at the Fagnes Chicane - the scene where Hamilton and Pierre Gasly suffered major crashes in practice - so aborted his run but it was still enough to qualify third.

No one else was in the pole fight and Russell in particular will be scratching his head at his pace deficit to Antonelli which has been a theme all weekend.

The Mercedes driver may be looking over his shoulder at the Ferraris on Sunday unless Antonelli falters at the front.

Ferrari's expectations of the track layout - which has a high reliance on a strong engine - would not suit them.

Sky Sports F1's Belgian GP schedule

Sunday July 19
7.30am: F3 Feature Race
9am: F2 Feature Race
10.45am: Porsche Supercup
12.30pm: Belgian GP build-up: Grand Prix Sunday
2pm: THE BELGIAN GRAND PRIX
4pm: Belgian GP reaction: Chequered Flag

*Also on Sky Sports Main Event

Formula 1 is at the legendary Spa-Francorchamps for the Belgian Grand Prix with Sunday's race at 2pm (build-up from 12.30pm), live on Sky Sports F1. Stream Sky Sports with NOW - no contract, cancel anytime