Kimi Antonelli beats Red Bull's team effort to qualify on pole for F1's Belgian Grand Prix

SPA-FRANCORCHAMPS, Belgium (AP) — It took two of Kimi Antonelli's rivals working together to put the Formula 1 standings leader to the test. It still wasn't enough.

The 19-year-old Italian beat a display of Red Bull formation flying to take pole position for the Belgian Grand Prix in qualifying on Saturday and boost his push to be the youngest-ever champion.

Max Verstappen had set the fastest time after smart coordination with Red Bull teammate Isack Hadjar to give him the strongest possible slipstream on his lap. Hadjar stayed in front through the high-speed Blanchimont corners, only moving across at the very last moment to avoid being hit by his own teammate.

Mercedes driver Antonelli found a new level of pace on his lap to beat Verstappen by 0.317 of a second and dedicated the pole position as a birthday present to his father Marco, a sportscar racer who turned 62 on Saturday.

“Let's go, man, let's go,” he said over the radio. “Happy birthday, dad.”

With Verstappen starting second and teammate and title rival George Russell third on the grid, Antonelli is hoping he can cling on to the lead in the long run-up into the forested hills on the first lap Sunday and that if there's overtaking, “hopefully it's just off in the distance.” Beyond that, he said, he'll just focus on managing his tire wear.

Verstappen said Hadjar's help was the difference between being second and sixth but that his Red Bull still can't keep up with Antonelli's Mercedes in race conditions.

“He did amazing. I initially thought ‘Oh my god, it’s too close.’ Actually it worked out well to the last corner. It was close but I trusted him," Verstappen said of Hadjar, who had nothing to gain because of a penalty which sends him to the back of the grid.

“The gap in qualifying even with a massive tow is still three-tenths, so I don’t really expect to race (Mercedes) tomorrow,” Verstappen added.

Lando Norris qualified third-fastest for McLaren but a grid penalty means he drops 10 places. Antonelli’s teammate George Russell is set to move up to third on the grid, but once again he struggled to match the 19-year-old Italian.

Russell complained that trying to match Antonelli was like “battling with one had behind your back,” in comments to Sky Sports, and said the team had “changed everything” in an attempt to narrow down why he's struggled to keep up.

Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton were fifth and sixth on a disappointing day for Ferrari following Leclerc's surprise win at the British Grand Prix. Even getting on track was a small victory for Hamilton after a crash in practice meant Ferrari had to rebuild his car in a hurry.

Russell closed the gap to Antonelli to 25 points in the standings at the British Grand Prix after the latest in a series of car problems for the Italian, but has consistently been off his teammate's pace, except for a win at the Austrian Grand Prix last month.

This story has been corrected to specify that Antonelli's father was marking his 62nd birthday, not 61st.

AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing

Mercedes driver Andrea Kimi Antonelli of Italy celebrates after qualifying for pole position ahead of the Formula One Grand Prix at the Spa-Francorchamps racetrack in Spa, Belgium, Saturday, July 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Geert Vanden Wijngaert)

McLaren driver Lando Norris of Britain steers his car during qualification ahead of the Formula One Grand Prix at the Spa-Francorchamps racetrack in Spa, Belgium, Saturday, July 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Omar Havana)

Mercedes driver Andrea Kimi Antonelli of Italy steers his car during the qualifying session ahead of the Formula One Grand Prix at the Spa-Francorchamps racetrack in Spa, Belgium, Saturday, July 18, 2026. (Sarah Meyssonnier, Pool Photo via AP)

Mercedes driver Andrea Kimi Antonelli of Italy gets into his car as he prepares for the qualifying session ahead of the Formula One Grand Prix at the Spa-Francorchamps racetrack in Spa, Belgium, Saturday, July 18, 2026. (Sarah Meyssonnier, Pool Photo via AP)

Ferrari driver Lewis Hamilton of Britain, center, poses for a photo as he walks in the paddock ahead of the Formula One Grand Prix at the Spa-Francorchamps racetrack in Spa, Belgium, Saturday, July 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Omar Havana)

U.S. futures are mixed as Wall Street looks to advance for the week ahead of new retail sales data.

The future for the S&P 500 edged 0.1% higher Friday while Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 0.1%. Nasdaq futures rose 0.1%.

The U.S. stock market hit all-time highs Thursday on new data that showed inflation cooled in July, as well as a decline in oil prices.

However, oil is rebounding to end the week after two United Arab Emirates tankers were attacked while trying to cross the Strait of Hormuz.

New numbers for U.S. retail sales arrive Friday before the opening bell after shoppers slowed their spending in June from May. There had been a notable bump in spending in both April and May as Americans dipped into their U.S. tax refunds.

Consumers, while resilient, have become more careful about how they spend money with more of their paychecks going to groceries and gasoline.

The average price of gas rose again overnight to $4.08, according to motor club AAA. That's 92 cents more per gallon than at this time last year.

Brent crude, the international standard, climbed 24 cents to $87.31 per barrel early Friday. U.S. benchmark crude rose almost 1% to $81.83.

Businesses and households have had difficulty budgeting for gasoline and shipping because energy prices have become extremely volatile as fighting continues in the Middle East. Hopes for a U.S. deal with Iran have faded and the Strait of Hormuz, where a fifth of the global oil supply usually transits each day, remains bottled up.

There was a level of relief after new reports this week showed consumer inflation, as well as rising costs in the pipeline before it reaches consumers, slowed in July.

If inflation appears to be in check, the Federal Reserve could hold off on raising interest rates. Higher rates would help keep a lid on inflation, but they do so by intentionally slowing the economy and making it more expensive for everyone to borrow money.

“The disinflation ducks are starting to line up, and with oil also backing off, the market has steadily stripped away the case for another near-term Fed hike,” Stephen Innes of SPI Asset Management said in a commentary.

In equities trading Friday, Reddit’s stock surged more than 12% before the bell with the social media platform joining the S&P 500 next week. Applied Materials slumped after the second quarter performance of the computer chip equipment maker fell short of investor expectations.

Britain's FTSE 100 fell 0.1% to 10,761.60 after Nigel Farage regained the seat in Parliament he quit a month ago, beating trash-can wearing comic candidate Count Binface in a widely mocked special election.

In Germany, the DAX rose 0.7% to 26,476.21, while the CAC 40 in Paris edged less than 0.1% lower to 8,654.97.

Tokyo's Nikkei 225 index gained 0.6% to 68,713.80, while the Kospi in South Korea rose 2.4% to 6,977.94.

The U.S. dollar dipped to 159.15 Japanese yen from 159.16 yen. The euro edged down slightly to $1.1555 from $1.1556.

Traders Daniel Kryger, right, and Aman Patel, left, work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Friday, Aug. 7, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

A general view shows the New York Stock Exchange, Friday, Aug. 7, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

A person walks in front of an electronic stock chart board showing Japan's Nikkei index at a securities firm Thursday, Aug. 13, 2026, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

A person walk in front of an electronic stock chart board showing Japan's Nikkei index at a securities firm Thursday, Aug. 13, 2026, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

A currency trader watches monitors near a screen showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) and the foreign exchange rate between U.S. dollar and South Korean won at the foreign exchange dealing room of the Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, Aug. 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

Currency traders work at the foreign exchange dealing room of the Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, Aug. 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

A screen shows the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI), SK Hynix and Samsung Electronics Co. stock price at the foreign exchange dealing room of the Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, Aug. 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)