Antonelli Leads Belgian GP FP2 as Gasly Crash Red-Flags the Session
Kimi Antonelli set the pace in Free Practice 2 at the Belgian Grand Prix, posting a 1m45.944s to finish 0.190 seconds clear of Lando Norris, with Max Verstappen third and Lewis Hamilton fourth. The session was red-flagged twice: first for gravel at Stavelot, then when Pierre Gasly crashed at Les Fagnes in the final 15 minutes, destroying his Alpine’s rear wing. Isack Hadjar briefly led on his opening soft-tyre run before Antonelli relegated him to fifth. Oscar Piastri missed the first 20 minutes with a hydraulics problem, and Charles Leclerc’s best lap was deleted for track-limits infringement, leaving him 11th.
Sources: Motorsport.com, Formula 1 Share ↗ ✉︎ Email 💬 Text
Verstappen Tops FP1 at Spa for His First Practice Lead of the 2026 Season
Max Verstappen led a Formula 1 practice session for the first time in 2026, heading the Belgian Grand Prix’s opening hour at Spa-Francorchamps with a 1m47.070s. Lewis Hamilton was second for Ferrari, 0.145 seconds back, with Charles Leclerc third at 0.207s. Red Bull’s Isack Hadjar was fourth and Oscar Piastri fifth, the McLaren driver having missed part of the session with a suspected hydraulics problem. The 2026 cars were reported to be around five seconds per lap slower than their 2025 predecessors at Spa, highlighting the performance impact of F1’s new hybrid regulation package at a circuit where power delivery is critical.
Norris Takes 10-Place Belgian GP Grid Drop as McLaren Fit New Electronics Unit
Lando Norris will start the Belgian Grand Prix with a 10-place grid penalty after McLaren fitted a new control electronics unit to his car ahead of the Spa weekend. The penalty is triggered when a driver exceeds their permitted seasonal allocation of power unit components. Norris arrived at Spa fifth in the Drivers’ Championship on 79 points, 92 behind leader Kimi Antonelli, having been aiming for strong points at a circuit where McLaren’s new low-downforce rear wing has performed as hoped. The grid drop will be applied to his qualifying result, with Saturday’s session still to run.
Belgian GP Grid Penalties: Hadjar Faces Back-of-Grid Start, Stroll Also Penalised
Isack Hadjar is set for a back-of-grid start at the Belgian Grand Prix after Red Bull made a series of powertrain component changes on his car that exceeded his permitted seasonal allocation. The Frenchman arrived at Spa eighth in the Drivers’ Championship on 42 points and was among the fastest Red Bulls in FP2, posting a 1m46.714s before Antonelli’s benchmark moved him to fifth. Lance Stroll also faces a grid penalty at the Belgian Grand Prix, with Aston Martin implementing component changes that breach the driver’s allocation. Both drivers’ practice pace will be largely irrelevant to their actual race starting positions.
Alpine Explains Gasly’s FP2 Crash That Red-Flagged Second Practice at Spa
Pierre Gasly ended Free Practice 2 at the Belgian Grand Prix against the barrier at Les Fagnes, destroying his Alpine’s rear wing in the final 15 minutes. The Frenchman experienced a snap of oversteer at Turn 14, sending him into the gravel before he clipped the outside wall. Alpine managing director Steve Nielsen described it as “a small mistake, which on a lot of other tracks would have been fine, but on this track you get punished for it.” Despite the crash, Alpine showed encouraging pace: Franco Colapinto was seventh-fastest in FP2, outpacing the Racing Bulls by 0.147 seconds and bringing optimism ahead of qualifying.
Sources: Motorsport.com Share ↗ ✉︎ Email 💬 Text
Hamilton Sees Belgian GP as Opportunity to Cut 46-Point Deficit to Antonelli
Lewis Hamilton arrived at the Belgian Grand Prix third in the Drivers’ Championship on 125 points, 46 behind leader Kimi Antonelli, and expressed optimism that Spa-Francorchamps could offer an opportunity to narrow the gap. Ferrari’s Hamilton finished second in FP1, 0.145 seconds behind Verstappen, before running fourth in FP2, splitting the two Red Bulls. Hamilton’s championship rivals face headwinds at Spa: Norris and Hadjar are both subject to grid penalties heading into qualifying. Mercedes hold a 78-point lead over Ferrari in the Constructors’ Championship, but the individual title battle remains very much alive going into the second half of the 2026 season.
Sources: Autosport, Sky Sports F1 Share ↗ ✉︎ Email 💬 Text
Verstappen Signs McLaren Junior Dries van Langendonck to His Driver Development Team
Max Verstappen has signed 15-year-old McLaren junior Dries van Langendonck to his Verstappen Racing squad, the four-time Formula 1 champion’s first move into driver development. The Belgian-born teenager joined McLaren’s programme in July 2024 after winning the 2023 World Junior Karting title, making his single-seater debut in British Formula 4 that year and taking pole and victory on his opening weekend. Van Langendonck leads the 2026 British F4 standings after a double victory at Zandvoort. Verstappen Racing will provide simulator support alongside McLaren’s existing backing, an agreement that also adds a further strand to speculation linking Verstappen himself to the Woking team.
Sources: Motorsport.com Share ↗ ✉︎ Email 💬 Text
Norris Says He Feels ‘Violated’ by Intrusions Into His Private Life
Lando Norris has spoken publicly about feeling ‘violated’ by the intrusions he now experiences in his private life as one of Formula 1’s most prominent drivers. Telling France 24 that he can no longer leave his hotel or home without people attempting to monitor his every movement, Norris said: ‘It doesn’t feel as though private life is private, it is just life now.’ He added: ‘There are boundaries and I won’t accept people following me. It’s just odd.’ The comments came as Norris prepares for the Belgian Grand Prix, where he also faces a 10-place grid penalty that will further complicate his weekend at Spa-Francorchamps.
Drivers' Championship
1. Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes) — 171 pts
2. George Russell (Mercedes) — 131 pts
3. Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari) — 125 pts
4. Oscar Piastri (McLaren) — 80 pts
5. Lando Norris (McLaren) — 79 pts
6. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) — 79 pts
7. Max Verstappen (Red Bull) — 73 pts
8. Isack Hadjar (Red Bull) — 42 pts
9. Pierre Gasly (Alpine) — 41 pts
10. Liam Lawson (Racing Bulls) — 30 pts
11. Oliver Bearman (Haas) — 18 pts
12. Franco Colapinto (Alpine) — 16 pts
13. Arvid Lindblad (Racing Bulls) — 14 pts
14. Carlos Sainz (Williams) — 6 pts
15. Alexander Albon (Williams) — 5 pts
16. Esteban Ocon (Haas) — 3 pts
17. Gabriel Bortoleto (Audi) — 2 pts
18. Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin) — 1 pts
19. Nicó Hülkenberg (Audi) — 0 pts
20. Valtteri Bottas (Cadillac) — 0 pts
21. Sergio Pérez (Cadillac) — 0 pts
22. Lance Stroll (Aston Martin) — 0 pts
Constructors' Championship
1. Mercedes — 333 pts
2. Ferrari — 255 pts
3. McLaren — 179 pts
4. Red Bull Racing — 128 pts
5. Alpine — 60 pts
6. Racing Bulls — 59 pts
7. Haas F1 Team — 21 pts
8. Williams — 11 pts
9. Audi — 6 pts
10. Aston Martin — 1 pts
11. Cadillac — 0 pts
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