2026 Belgian Grand Prix Qualifying Review

Linus O'Howell

Jul 18

2 min read

The longest lap of the season meant the gaps were potentially larger than ever as Qualifying took place around the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps!

Q1

In Qualifying 1, Alex Albon, Esteban Ocon, Valtteri Bottas, Sergio Perez, Fernando Alonso, and Lance Stroll were the six slowest drivers! Alex Albon was incredibly unlucky to miss out on a spot in Q2 by just 7 thousandths of a second, whilst Esteban Ocon was miles off his teammate with another poor showing for Haas! As always, Cadillac locked out the 10th row of the grid, with Valtteri Bottas ahead of Sergio Perez this weekend, whilst Aston Martin were well over 2 seconds slower than Cadillac, with Fernando Alonso beating Lance Stroll! Aston are horrific! Lando Norris managed to top Q1 for McLaren, with Max Verstappen less than a tenth behind in the Red Bull!

Q2

In Qualifying 2, Liam Lawson, Pierre Gasly, Franco Colapinto, Nico Hulkenberg, Carlos Sainz, and Oliver Bearman all failed to make it into the Top 10 shootout! Having the less-upgraded Racing Bulls car clearly cost Liam Lawson a spot in Q3, whilst Pierre Gasly edged out Franco Colapinto in the Alpine head-to-head battle! Nico Hulkenberg will be very disappointed to have only qualified in 14th, whilst Carlos Sainz managed to pip Oliver Bearman to 15th by just 2 thousandths of a second! Andrea Kimi Antonelli was back on top in Q2, 2 and a half tenths clear of Charles Leclerc’s Ferrari!

Q3

In Qualifying 3, a monster 1:44.361 was enough for Andrea Kimi Antonelli to take his 6th Pole Position of the season! The most amazing thing about this lap is that Kimi didn’t set a single purple sector, and yet he’s on Pole by over 3 tenths! A brilliant bit of teamwork allowed Max Verstappen to get his Red Bull onto the front row, whilst a grid penalty for Lando Norris means George Russell will start from third, despite being over 5 tenths off his teammate’s pace! There was just 2 thousandths separating the two Ferraris, with Charles Leclerc edging out Lewis Hamilton, whilst a 2-tenth gap to his teammate meant Oscar Piastri could only qualify 7th (again)! Arvid Lindblad took full advantage of his upgraded VCARB to qualify in P8, ahead of the Audi of Gabriel Bortoleto, whilst Isack Hadjar already knew that he’d be starting from the back of the grid due to a number of grid penalties that he’s set to receive!