Kimi Antonelli Raih Pole Position Grand Prix Belgia 2026

Pembalap tim Mercedes Kimi Antonelli sukses merebut posisi start terdepan setelah mencatatkan waktu tercepat dalam sesi kualifikasi Formula 1 Grand Prix Belgia di Sirkuit Spa-Francorchamps pada Sabtu, 18 Juli 2026.

Pembalap muda asal Italia tersebut berhasil mengungguli rival terdekatnya, Max Verstappen dari Red Bull dan Lando Norris dari McLaren, dengan catatan waktu terbaik 1 menit 44,361 detik.

Keberhasilan ini menjadi pole position keenam bagi Antonelli dari sepuluh seri yang telah berjalan sepanjang musim balap 2026, di mana ia saat ini memimpin klasemen sementara dengan raihan 179 poin.

"I’ve been feeling good with the car all year and it’s good to be more and more confident whenever I jump in it," kata Kimi Antonelli, pebalap Mercedes.

Sementara itu, rekan setimnya, George Russell, harus puas menempati posisi keempat dalam sesi kualifikasi setelah sempat mengalami kendala kecepatan di trek lurus selama akhir pekan.

"Could be worse, could be much better," ujar George Russell, pembalap Mercedes.

Russell menjelaskan bahwa timnya sempat menduga masalah tersebut bersumber dari sistem pengereman atau gaya balapnya, namun mereka kini meyakini ada masalah serius lain pada mobilnya.

"Yesterday I was losing eight-tenths in the straights. Today I'm losing four-tenths. It's a step in the right direction!

We saw this from Silverstone. We thought we found the problem. We thought it was something with the brakes.

It wasn't the brakes. Then we thought it was my driving style, with the throttle, and I convinced myself that it was something in me with the driving style." kata George Russell, pembalap Mercedes.

Kendala tersebut membuat fokus Russell terpecah selama latihan bebas hingga sesi kualifikasi berlangsung.

"Now we're very confident it's not the driving style, and that there's a serious issue atplay here, and the team is working so hard to resolve it. Every lap I do when I see I'm down, anywhere from two-tenths to six-tenths in the straights, it's pretty infuriating." kata George Russell, pembalap Mercedes.

Russell menambahkan bahwa dirinya merasakan kehilangan kecepatan saat menginjak pedal gas penuh di lintasan lurus.

"My whole focus for the last 36 hours has been on straight-line speed," kata George Russell, pembalap Mercedes.

Ia juga menyayangkan hilangnya waktu sepersepuluh detik pada putaran terakhirnya.

"I haven't been focused on the setup, the tires, or anything, because we're all trying to solve what is going on. Even on my last lap, for some reason, I lost another tenth and a half to myself, just on the straight." kata George Russell, pembalap Mercedes.

Meskipun demikian, Russell merasa tim Mercedes terus berupaya keras untuk menginvestigasi fenomena pengurangan kecepatan tersebut.

"You're watching your steering wheel, just losing speed when you're full gas on the straight. You feel powerless. So we don't know what's going on.

I don't think it's the power unit, to be honest. But there's something slowing us down on the straights, and as I said, the team are really, really on it now to try and solve it." kata George Russell, pembalap Mercedes.

Pada jalannya balapan hari Minggu, Russell terpaksa melorot ke barisan belakang setelah mengalami masalah Mode Boost dan terlibat tabrakan dengan Lewis Hamilton di Lap 1.

"I shouldn't have been in that position in the first place," kata George Russell, pembalap Mercedes.

Russell mengungkapkan rasa frustrasinya setelah berulang kali mengalami nasib buruk sepanjang musim ini.

"That's why I'm most angry." kata George Russell, pembalap Mercedes.

Ungkapan kekecewaan mendalam juga disampaikan oleh Russell mengenai situasi balapannya yang tidak berjalan sesuai rencana.

"I'm numb to the disappointment now," kata George Russell, pembalap Mercedes.

Ia mengaku mulai terbiasa dengan hasil buruk yang menimpanya secara berturut-turut.

"When it happens so often, you just get used to it." kata George Russell, pembalap Mercedes.

Di sisi lain, Oscar Piastri dari McLaren mengakui bahwa ia mengalami kesulitan untuk mengendalikan mobilnya agar bisa tampil maksimal di batas performa sepanjang akhir pekan di Spa.

"The whole day just trying to get the car to work how I wanted to, and to put it on the edge has been tough," kata Oscar Piastri, pembalap McLaren.

Piastri menjelaskan bahwa mobilnya sangat sulit dikendarai akibat berbagai faktor seperti arah angin dan karakteristik tikungan.

"So not the easiest weekend so far. It's just been a very difficult car to drive. If you can balance it on the edge, then the lap time seems to be there. But balancing it on the edge is pretty tough." kata Oscar Piastri, pembalap McLaren.

Menurut pembalap asal Australia tersebut, mobil McLaren saat ini membutuhkan tambahan downforce untuk bisa mengekstrak kecepatan lebih tinggi.

"Bit of everything, depending on where exactly you put it, and which way the wind is, what kind of corner you're in. It's not one kind of clear problem. I think when you've got struggleswith a bit of everything, it's probably that that's just what the car is capable of, andextracting any more out of it is just needing more downforce, really." kata Oscar Piastri, pembalap McLaren.