Kimi Antonelli believes he must make a fast start from pole position at the Belgian Grand Prix to avoid being overtaken early on by Max Verstappen.

The Mercedes driver will start from the front of the grid at Spa-Francorchamps after setting a lap time 0.317 seconds faster than Verstappen's; it is the biggest pole margin of the season so far.

Antonelli has now claimed six pole positions in Formula One, with all of them coming this year, the third-most of any Italian driver in the competition's history.

However, the winner of the Belgian Grand Prix has started from outside pole position at each of the last four editions (Verstappen from 14th and sixth in 2022 and 2023, Lewis Hamilton from third in 2024, and Oscar Piastri from second in 2025).

The only previous occasion this happened in five consecutive editions was an eight-race streak between 1992 and 1999.

Antonelli knows the threat Verstappen poses, and the Italian is determined to make a fast start to Sunday's race.

"It's great to be on pole," said Antonelli.

"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. 

"The last lap was good. I improved a lot in sector two especially, so it was a nice lap. Of course, there was still a little bit there and there. 

"But tomorrow is another day and obviously, I have Max starting next to me, so it's going to be important to get a good start and then be ahead into Turn Five."

POLLEEEEE FOR KIMI 

Lovely stuff  pic.twitter.com/qXh6lOKqGb

— Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team (@MercedesAMGF1) July 18, 2026

Lando Norris finished third in qualifying, but he will start the race from 13th due to accepting a 10-place grid penalty for exceeding power unit element limits.

The reigning world champion was 0.44 seconds off Antonelli's pole lap, and he is hoping to make his way through the field in the race.

"It's nice to be standing here, just not nice knowing I have to go 10 places back tomorrow," said the McLaren driver.

"It's unfortunate that this isn't genuinely where we are starting, because it would be nice to have a little bit of a fight with these guys, but we made the most of it.

"It was still a very good qualifying, a very good lap for me. Honestly, I've been pretty happy all weekend.

"So hopefully we can still have a good race and have some fun."

Mercedes' George Russell will start in third following Norris' penalty, while Ferrari's Charles Leclerc and Hamilton have been upgraded to fourth and fifth respectively.

Piastri has moved up to sixth, with Arvid Lindblad, Gabriel Bortoleto, Liam Lawson and Pierre Gasly making up the rest of the top 10.