F1 Belgian GP qualifying: winners and losers at Spa 2026

Antonelli's pole is more dominant than the margin shows — the Red Bull tow strategy inflated Verstappen's time, and Antonelli's sector two pace was simply in a different class. The more pressing story is Russell's persistent straight-line deficit, which has now survived multiple attempted diagnoses and is clearly something structural rather than a setup or driving-style quirk. At the other end, Lindblad within a tenth of a McLaren and Bortoleto outqualifying Hulkenberg are the midfield data points worth tracking into the race. Ferrari's half-second gap to pole while sitting fifth and sixth is the quiet concern — Leclerc's yellow-flag frustration aside, the raw pace deficit to Mercedes is the real headline for the Scuderia.