The Italian Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes) today won the pole position for the Belgian Formula One Grand Prix by being the fastest in the qualification played in the Spa-Francorchamps circuit.
© Lusa
by
Lusa
Antonelli, leader of the World Cup, made the best turn in 1.44,361 minutes, leaving the Dutch Max Verstappen (Red Bull) in second position, at 0.317 seconds, while the British Lando Norris (McLaren) was third, at 0.440, but will lose 10 seats on the starting grid due to penalty for exceeding the limit of exchanged components of the driving unit.
Kimi Antonelli secured the sixth pole position of the season by setting the best qualifying record in the final attempt of Q3, the last of the three contested phases.
Verstappen, who benefited from the aspiration cone of his teammate at Red Bull, still threatened the first position, but saw the last attempt be conditioned by an almost incident with Frenchman Isack Hadjar (Racing Bulls).
Norris, champion in title, came to lead the table of times after the first rounds of Q3, but failed to improve in the final attempt and ended up with the third half, even though the penalty makes him fall to the 13th place of the grid.
The British George Russell (Mercedes) was ranked fourth, ahead of the Monegasque Charles Leclerc (Ferrari), fifth, and British Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari), sixth.
The seven times world champion suffered a violent morning accident in the third session of free training, requiring extra work from the Italian team mechanics to repair the single-place, which was badly damaged.
The Australian Oscar Piastri (McLaren) finished seventh place, followed by Swedish Arvid Lindblad (Racing Bulls), eighth, Brazilian Gabriel Bortoleto (Audi), ninth, and French Isack Hadjar (Racing Bulls), 10th, which will also be referred to the bottom of the grid due to a 20-seat penalty.
Outside Q3 was New Zealander Liam Lawson (Racing Bulls), 11th, who failed clearance for just 0.038 seconds, finishing ahead of the Alpine of Frenchman Pierre Gasly and Argentinean Franco Colapinto.
The Belgian Grand Prix is the 10th round of the season and is held on Sunday in Spa-Francorchamps.
Kimi Antonelli reaches the lead, with 179 points, 25 more than George Russell, which is second, and 32 more than Lewis Hamilton, which is third.