Antonelli reveals a factor which hindered his W17's balance in qualifying

Mercedes championship leader Andrea Kimi Antonelli secured the sixth pole position of his Formula 1 career after producing another commanding qualifying performance for the Belgian Grand Prix at Spa-Francorchamps.

Antonelli overcame a difficult start to the session before delivering a stunning final lap in Q3 to beat Max Verstappen and Lando Norris, extending Mercedes' impressive qualifying form during the 2026 season.

The Italian admitted he initially struggled to adapt to changing conditions as stronger winds made the car more difficult to drive during the opening phase of qualifying.

"It was a weird qualifying because in Q1 I felt a bit lost, because the wind picked up a little bit and the balance was a bit more on the edge," Antonelli explained in the post-session press conference.

"But then, obviously, the session came to us, and Q3 was good because we did a decent first lap and then, on the second lap, found a lot of time."

Antonelli also believes the falling track temperatures played a role in Mercedes' late improvement.

"I feel like the track was cooling down and it was helping us a little bit. It was a good lap, and now we'll focus on tomorrow."

A significant step in performance came between Q1 and Q2, with Antonelli revealing Mercedes made only a minor front-wing adjustment before the car immediately came alive.

"Front wing. Just changed a little bit of flap, and that's it," he said. "Also, the lap was much tidier. Q1 was a bit all over the place."

Mercedes also introduced a revised low-drag package for Spa, and Antonelli said the update paid dividends without compromising the car's strength through the middle sector.

"Well, we brought a little package that helped us a little bit more on the straights, but in Sector 2 the car still felt good. Especially in Q3, it was good that we were strong in all the sectors."

Looking ahead to Sunday's race, Antonelli knows converting pole position into victory will depend on making a clean getaway and carefully managing tyre degradation over the 44-lap race.

"Yeah, a good start and try to have good pace," he said when asked how he could improve his already impressive record of converting pole positions into victories.

"Of course, the degradation is going to be very big, but we'll try our best in order to maximise the performance. It's going to be fun tomorrow and, of course, thanks to everyone for coming this weekend. It's been amazing seeing you all."

The championship leader also joked about his ideal race scenario when asked whether he expected plenty of overtaking.

"Well, I don't know. Hopefully not," Antonelli smiled. "Hopefully, it's just off in the distance."

"But we'll see tomorrow. We'll see what the weather is going to be like. For sure, it's a long run into Turn 5, and of course we'll try to get a good start. But also, the degradation is going to be fairly big, so we're just going to try to manage those tyres in the best way possible."