F1 2026 Belgian Grand Prix Qualifying Results
July 19, 2026
Toyota’s Sami Pajari inherited overall WRC Croatia Rally lead after dramatic Friday opening leg, as pre-event favorites Elfyn Evans and Oliver Solberg crashed out.
The fourth round of the World Rally Championship running from April 10 to 12 kicked off near Rijeka with Pajari taking his first ever event lead, beating Hyundai’s Thierry Neuville by 13.7 seconds, while Takamoto Katsuta held third just 0.9s further back in the surviving Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 machine.
Action ignited at 9:03 AM local time with SS1, Vodice – Brest 1, a 14.12-kilometer test winding through coastal vineyards and tight hairpins that demanded flawless car control on polished asphalt.
WRC championship leader Elfyn Evans wasted no time asserting dominance, powering his Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 to the stage win in 7:59.7, edging out the field by a margin that set the tone for his early assault on the leaderboard.
However, teammate Oliver Solberg fell victim to understeer on the narrow roads just 4.8 km in which sent his car brushing against a rock face on the edge of the road and into a ditch.
Fans nearby rushed to assist but the damage was terminal, sidelining the young Swede and his co-driver Elliott Edmondson who had shown glimpses of real promise in the shakedown and had been tipped by many to thrive on the smooth Istrian surfaces.
With Solberg out, Evans doubled down on his advantage into SS2, pulling a small but psychological 7.7s lead at the top as Sami Pajari held firm in second.
Disaster, however, struck Evans in SS3 Beram – Cerovlje test after the Welshman carried too much speed into a right‑hand bend. His Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 clipped the inside bank and then slid off‑camber into the trees, ending his rally before the midday service.
Both Evans and co‑driver Scott Martin escaped the incident unscathed, but the emotional toll was evident as Evans described being “caught out” by the severity of the corner and the unexpected loss of grip.
Amid the wreckage of Toyota’s initial hopes, Sami Pajari quietly recalibrated his approach and proceeded to set the fastest stage time in SS4, securing the overall 2026 Rally Croatia lead.
Thierry Neuville and co‑driver Martijn Wydaeghe, meanwhile, emerged as the most credible threat to Pajari despite struggling with balance issues and a sense of unease behind the wheel of the Hyundai i20 N Rally1.
It was not until the afternoon loop that Neuville’s experience on asphalt truly shone through. The Belgian re‑tuned his aggression which culminated into back‑to‑back stage wins on SS6 and SS7.
That surge cut his deficit to Pajari to just 6.3s as the crews approached the final pass through the Učka region, but on the second run through the unforgiving test he lost time again, ultimately settling for second overall, 13.7s behind the Finn at the end of the day.
Takamoto Katsuta slotted into third overall, just 14.6s behind Pajari, while Hyundai’s Hayden Paddon impressed in fourth as he marks his first Croatia Rally entry.
Jumping from the midfield to the top‑five was Paddon’s teammate Adrien Fourmaux, whose rally nearly slipped beyond recovery after a front‑right puncture on SS2.
Josh McErlean had to settle for sixth as the leading M-Sport Ford after a puncture on SS7 robbed him of a likely top‑five finish.
In WRC2, Yohan Rossel emerged at the head of the class, steering his Lancia Ypsilon HF Rally2 through a series of mechanical and surface challenges that sapped confidence from many of his rivals.
The Frenchman’s consistency across the varied asphalt stages allowed him to finish the leg with a 22-second advantage over Nikolay Gryazin.
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