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F1 fans all believe that Red Bull left Max Verstappen with no chance during qualifying for the 2026 Belgian Grand Prix after Mercedes driver Andrea Kimi Antonelli got pole.
Antonelli smashed it out of the park during Q3 at Spa on Saturday to secure his sixth pole of the season so far through 10 rounds. The 19-year-old registered a 1:44.361 lap in the top-10 shootout to thrash Verstappen in second place by 0.317 seconds in a truly dominant display.
Verstappen recorded a 1:44.678 in his Red Bull RB22 to match his best qualifying results this season, after he also qualified second in Miami and Monaco. On the previous occasions that Verstappen started in P2, he spun at Turn 1 in Miami and did not get off the grid in Monaco.
Who was your star of qualifying at the Belgian Grand Prix? 🤩
F1 fans slam Red Bull’s car after Kimi Antonelli beat Max Verstappen to pole at Spa by 0.317s
Red Bull even sacrificed Isack Hadjar to help Verstappen during qualifying for the Belgian GP, as the former was always certain to start Sunday’s race from the back of the grid. Hadjar has got a fresh internal combustion engine, turbocharger and exhaust in his RB22 this weekend.
READ MORE: How to watch the 2026 Belgian Grand Prix, plus the weather forecast for Spa
But even with Hadjar giving Verstappen a slipstream during both of the latter’s Q3 runs, the four-time F1 champion was powerless to get close to first place as Antonelli got pole for the Belgian GP. And a lot of F1 fans quickly said Verstappen had no chance due to Red Bull’s car.
For potentially one weekend only, Red Bull have removed their Macarena rear wing for the Belgian GP after Verstappen’s crashes in qualifying in Austria and the British Grand Prix. So, Red Bull tried to counter any loss by having Hadjar tow Verstappen out of Curve Paul Frere.
Yet after seeing Verstappen’s deficit to Antonelli at the end of qualifying, one F1 fan noted on Reddit: “Three tenths ahead and Max had a tow… Kimi is a monster!” Another fan also declared: “Hadjar helped Max so much, but still not enough for P1.”
One claimed: “Red Bull did everything they could with the slipstream strategy and Antonelli still goes three tenths faster. Kimi is a demon.” A fan also said, “No one can win with a s——, not even Max,” and one said: “Three tenths over Verstappen, who got a tow, is insane.”
Another F1 also noted: “A whole tow at the final sector and still three tenths off pole. Kimi is just a demon.”
Hadjar led Verstappen out of the pit lane for both of their runs during Q3 to ensure that he was the car directly in front of his Red Bull teammate in the fight for pole at the Belgian GP.
The 21-year-old then backed out of his lap once he got to the end of the middle sector, thus allowing Verstappen to be on his tail out of Curve Paul Frere at Turn 15. Verstappen timed the moment that he caught Hadjar perfectly at first, but they were arguably too close later on.
Hadjar actually appeared to slightly hinder Verstappen through Blanchimont, as the latter latched onto the former’s gearbox before the entry point for the fast left-hander. Hadjar’s penalty meant his qualifying position was irrelevant, so thus moved aside for Verstappen.
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