Overview
- Saturday's final practice saw Lewis Hamilton crash heavily at Turn 13, reporting over team radio that he had "destroyed the car," and Ferrari mechanics replaced the floor, suspension and gearbox to get him into qualifying.
- Antonelli converted strong practice form into pole with a 1:44.361 in Q3 to beat Max Verstappen by 0.317 seconds, giving Mercedes its sixth pole of the season for the 19-year-old.
- Red Bull used team-mate Isack Hadjar to provide a slipstream tow that boosted Verstappen's lap, but Hadjar accepted a back-of-grid start for power-unit changes and did not set a representative Q3 time.
- Several confirmed grid penalties will materially reshuffle Sunday’s starting order: Lando Norris will drop 10 places to start 13th, Hadjar will start at the back, and Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll have also taken power‑unit penalties.
- The stewards fined Ferrari €10,000 for failing to return the correct tyres to Pirelli, and Antonelli's pole extends a 25-point championship lead that increases the strategic importance of Spa's front-row positions.