2026 Formula 1 Belgian GP
F1 Belgian GP live commentary and updates - FP2
Follow along for updates from Spa-Francorchamps as F1 gets underway for second Belgian GP practice
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So that's it from the first day of track action in Belgium. Join us again for FP3, which starts at 12:30 local tomorrow – followed by qualifying at 16:00 local.
Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes
Photo by: Guido De Bortoli / LAT Images via Getty Images
So that's it in terms of times - just the practice starts left to complete once the clock runs down. So Antonelli's 1m45.944s from earlier stands as the fastest, by 0.190s from Lando Norris and 0.472s from Verstappen.
The key takeaway from this session, with the caveat that we've had two stoppages, is the gaps between some of the teammates – Norris and Piastri, Antonelli and Russell, Hamilton and Leclerc, Bortoleto and Hulkenberg. We're looking forward to hearing what they have to say about this later...
And the session is resumed with two minutes to run.
Engines are being fired up but we're not going to have much in the way of action given there are just three minutes to go – likely just a trundle round the track for the start simulation after the flag.
DRAPEAU ROUGE
And we have another red flag, this time for Pierre Gasly having an unscheduled interface with the barrier at the Fagnes chicane. Replays show he took a trip through the gravel and then banged his rear-right wheel against the edge of the barrier just as he looked like he was getting away with it. The Alpine now has no rear wing and a barely attached right-rear corner.
Dialling back through the order, the Racing Bulls are slightly out of sync with one another in terms of their run plans – Lindblad is on mediums while Lawson has just done his qualifying sim. They're now ninth and 10th and separated by just over a tenth of a second.
The gap between Russell and Antonelli is interesting. Obviously the denizens of social media have a theory, which is that the team is favouring Antonelli. Because obviously a team that wants to bank a huge financial bonus by winning the constructors' championship is going to jeopardise that by screwing one of its drivers. Wait, what? Well, never let logic get in the way of a conspiracy theory.
If you look at the data from Silverstone, for instance, Antonelli was achieving higher top speeds before the ramp-down phase on areas such as the Hangar Straight, which is what's fuelled the conspiracy theories.
But top speed is a factor of how much power is in the battery, so there is a school of thought that Russell is scrubbing off more speed through corners because of his preference for braking late and attacking the apex. He then needs to lean on the battery slightly more to regain the apex speed lost to his teammate. It's subtle but it's there...
Piastri with a 1m46.926s on softs. That's eight tenths off his teammate.
Russell's lap is best described as so-so - he loses around half a second in S2 alone. 1m47.229s for P5, 1.285s slower than his teammate.
Make that P6 because Colapinto has just clocked a 1m47.147s.
Ah, make that P7 because Norris has just gone P2 with a 1m46.134s.
Russell falling off faster than John Lithgow at the end of Cliffhanger...
Verstappen, meanwhile, back out on the mediums he used at the beginning of the session, so that's his qualifying simulation over for now.
Russell now heading out on softs.
Indeed - Hamilton splits the Red Bulls but Leclerc is nearly four tenths off his own teammate through sector three, winding up a whole second off Antonelli.
Hamilton and Leclerc setting personal-best first and second sectors but they're not going to challenge Antonelli's time.
So now a much bigger gap between the leading trio than on the previous medium-tyre runs. Verstappen 0.472s off Antonelli, Hadjar 0.770s.
Well actually Isack's own teammate knocks him off the pedestal first, with a 1m46.416s. But then Antonelli crosses the line in 1m45.944s.
Hadjar goes P1 with a 1m46.714s but he might not be in possession of the top spot for long, because Antonelli has gone purple in the first two sectors.
Hamilton now exiting the pits on softs, ditto Leclerc.
Piastri now leaving the pits, rolling on mediums for now.
And we're back running now the sweeping has concluded. Change of tack for Antonelli, Hadjar, Verstappen and (further down the order) Albon, who have left the pits on softs.
So quite the spread thus far, with the top three separated by just 0.031s. Then P4 (Lindblad) is 0.404s off Antonelli's benchmark.
Russell (P8) currently 1.130s off his teammate's best lap, but it's very early days. Just five laps on the board for both of them.
Verstappen complaining about gearshift quality, as is his won these days.
We have a red flag. No official word through the usual channels but our driver tracker shows all the cars are moving... and F1 TV cuts to a shot of plentiful gravel at Paul Frere, so that would appear to be the cause.
Hmm, it bleeds away in sector three and Max goes P3 with a 1m46.942s. He was a tenth off his previous best in S3, and that lap was but 0.031s off Antonelli.
Verstappen might be about to have something to say about Antonelli being quickest.. he's just set a purple first sector and a personal best in the second...
Everyone else has taken to the track, and done so on mediums. Antonelli fastest so far with a 1m46.911s.
Ambient temperature is 24C and track temperature is 36C.
Anyhow, after that dip into the past, we're under way at Spa in 2026. Well, apart from Oscar Piastri that is - his car is still in a state of disassembly while McLaren fixes the hydraulic leak that struck Piastri late in FP1.
Fair to say things have changed a bit since 1925. Here's Ascari leading his Alfa Romeo teammate Giuseppe Campari, followed by Robert Benoist (9), Albert Divo (5) and Gastone Brilli-Peri (10).
Photo by: Getty Images
According to the F1 TV graphic, Juan Manuel Fangio was the first winner at this circuit, in 1950. No, that would be this guy, in 1925...
Antonio Ascari
Photo by: Getty Images
The investigation into Carlos Sainz crossing the white line at the pit entry in FP1 has resulted in a reprimand. Here's the official notice:
"The Stewards heard from the driver of Car 55 (Carlos Sainz), team representative
and reviewed in-car video evidence.
"Item 15.2 of the Race Director’s Event Notes provides that any driver passing to the right-hand side of the bollard at safety car line 1 will be considered as entering the pit lane for the purposes of Appendix L, Chapter IV Article 4 of the International Sporting Code which provides that any car entering the pit lane must not cross a painted line separating cars entering the pit lane from cars on the track.
"Car 55 passed to the right-hand side of the bollard at safety car line 1 and immediately thereafter turned left across the line and rejoined the track. Team radio confirmed that the driver had been given an instruction from his engineer to enter the pit lane and, having committed to do so by passing to the right of the bollard, was given a counter-instruction to return to the track to recharge energy. In complying with that instruction, the driver breached Appendix L, Chapter IV Article 4 because the Event Notes deemed him to have entered the pit lane.
"The driver acknowledged the breach. He said he received a very late call from his engineer and realised that if he didn’t rejoin the track his energy level would be so depleted it would mean he would lose laps regenerating after he changed to a soft tyre. He said that he checked his mirrors before rejoining the track and there was no traffic coming. Therefore what he did was not dangerous.
"While the Stewards were satisfied that in this instance what occurred was not dangerous, the reason for the prohibition on the crossing of the line at pit entry is to prevent the possibility of an inherently dangerous situation. While we have some sympathy for the driver receiving a very late instruction from his engineer, on the driver’s own admission the rule was breached in order to ensure that the driver did not suffer a sporting disadvantage from having entered the pit lane with a low energy level.
"The Stewards therefore determined to impose a reprimand on the driver."
Carlos Sainz, Williams
Photo by: Andy Hone/ LAT Images via Getty Images
And of course it wouldn't be Spa without an intervention from the fickle Ardennes microclimate. It rained earlier but that has now cleared up. The official weather prognostication from the FIA system is as follows:
"The ongoing level 1 rain showers/drizzle should be clearing the track by 1630-1645. The greater threat for heavier rain/thunderstorms will exist well south of the circuit through the late afternoon and early evening. If precipitation occurs during FP2 it will most likely be a drizzle to intensity level 1 rain. Currently, probability of precipitation during FP2 is 40-60%"
By: Stuart Codling
