Mercedes
After topping FP2 yesterday, Antonelli did the same thing in FP3 on Saturday to enter Qualifying as the favourite for pole. But he had to work hard in the end for his sixth pole of the season, with Norris and Verstappen both pushing him close. The Italian nailed his final lap in Q3 to beat the field by a mighty three tenths of a second. Russell arguably had to work even harder for P4 after struggling for pace once again, especially down the straights. He was flirting with the fourth row for much of the session, but pulled a big lap out of the bag late on to secure fourth – which becomes P3 when Norris’ grid penalty is applied.
Kimi Antonelli, 1st, 1:44.361
“It’s great to be on pole position, especially at a track where I struggled last year. Q1 was quite tricky with the changing wind conditions, but we kept making progress throughout the session. The car felt really strong in Q3, and I was happy with my final lap as I managed to put everything together.
“Pole on Saturday is a great result, but the points are scored tomorrow. A good start will be crucial, especially with the long run to Turn 5, so our focus is on finishing the job in the race. The team has done a tremendous job overnight to improve the car, and I have confidence in the package we have. Tyre degradation is expected to be high, so we’ll analyse everything carefully this evening to make sure we’re in the best possible position for the Grand Prix.”
George Russell, 4th, 1:44.869
“I felt satisfied with my last lap in Q3 today and felt like it might have been good enough for the front row. I’ve been struggling for the last couple of races with my pace and we’re all working hard to try and find a solution. There are several factors that could be at play, but I’ve focused on my driving style this weekend to see if that helps to improve things. There were some encouraging signs but it’s clear that our deployment wasn’t as we expected here too. As a team, we are continuing to investigate all the possible options to understand how we eliminate that deficit.
“The positive news is that we still have a solid starting position in P3 and, as Kimi showed by taking pole position, the car is quick. Anything can happen here at Spa and usually does so I hope we can have a good race tomorrow. I’ll be fighting hard and giving it my all.”
Toto Wolff, Head of Mercedes-Benz Motorsport
“At the beginning of Q3 we hadn’t quite managed to put ours lap together. We were overheating the tyres too much and as always with these cars, there’s so much to manage. Once we were able to get the tyres into a better window though, both drivers were able to put in good laps. For Kimi that was enough to take pole position and for George P4, which becomes P3 on tomorrow’s grid.
“The past two weekends have been tricky for George. As a team, we are looking into where his losses are coming from; there is a lot for us to look at and investigate as we are seeing a deficit, particularly on the run to the final chicane here, that we can’t currently explain. We saw something similar at Silverstone which we thought was down to driving style, but George has worked diligently this weekend on that, and it hasn’t resolved the issue.
“While pole position and P3 are great places to start from, the long run down the Kemmel Straight usually means there is plenty of overtaking on the opening lap. Our aim will be to get away cleanly, show good pace maximise points for the team.”
Andrew Shovlin, Trackside Engineering Director
“Well done to Kimi, George and the team on another pole position and P3, which gives us a great chance of a good result tomorrow. It’s a good outcome after what has not been a particularly straightforward day or weekend so far.
“Kimi’s first run in FP3 was good, but when he pushed a bit harder in the final run, the rear tyres dropped away. George started the session a little off the pace but his final lap on the new Soft tyre was solid; there was a little more time to find in a couple of corners but also some on the deployment in the run to the final chicane.
“Both drivers were reasonably happy with the balance going into qualifying, so we made only minor changes to the set-up. Our first laps with both were not great; the track was a little warmer and we were losing a bit of rear grip. We were able to get on top of that for Q2 onwards though.
“Unfortunately, George continued to suffer from poor deployment into the final chicane which ultimately cost him a position on the grid tomorrow; P3 is a strong effort considering that. We’re investigating what’s causing this as a priority as there is a clear loss that we cannot explain by driving style. Kimi meanwhile put together a nice sequence of new tyre runs; he was finding time with each set and put together a very impressive lap on the final run to secure pole.
“This is a track where the long straights will make overtaking relatively easy, so race pace is going to be vital. The key to unlocking that is looking after the tyres well. We don’t have as much long run data as we’d like but normally, we are slightly stronger on Sunday, so hopefully that trend will continue and we can secure a good result for the team.”
