Winners and losers from Belgian GP F1 practice

Max Verstappen and Kimi Antonelli Lead Friday Practice at the 2026 Belgian Grand Prix

Max Verstappen and Kimi Antonelli led the field during Friday’s practice sessions for the 2026 Belgian Grand Prix at Spa-Francorchamps. As the 71st running of the event, the weekend has been characterized by harvesting woes, the trial of new parts, and significant technical adjustments as teams prepare for the race.

Mercedes and Red Bull Adjust Strategies at Spa

Friday’s practice sessions proved demanding as teams tested new components and harvesting strategies. Mercedes, which initially struggled during the opening hour, found a better balance by the second session. According to reports, Mercedes trackside engineering director Andrew Shovlin noted that the team had to make a significant course correction after a difficult start.

“It was a messy first session where we didn’t have the car in the right place, we thought there’d be a bit more grip than there was – but it looks like other people pitched theirs a bit better. But then we had a chance between sessions to reposition it all and drivers were a lot happier with the car in the afternoon,” Andrew Shovlin, Mercedes trackside engineering director

Kimi Antonelli appeared particularly pleased with the progress. Long run felt very strong as well [as the single lap], but obviously the car changed quite a bit between the two sessions so a lot of work to do overnight in order to be ready for tomorrow and on Sunday, Antonelli said. Conversely, his teammate George Russell faced a difficult day, ending FP2 1.285s off the pace of the leader, despite an issue with his power unit in FP1 being addressed.

For Red Bull, the day was marked by both progress and technical troubleshooting. Max Verstappen topped the times in the first practice session with a 1m47.070s lap—the first time he has led a practice session in 2026. He was 0.145s clear of Lewis Hamilton’s Ferrari. Despite his strong pace, Verstappen expressed frustration with gear shifts, which he described as “unbelievable” after a momentary excursion into a gravel trap that caused a red flag.

Red Bull’s Rear Wing Technical Pivot

Red Bull entered the weekend with a revised technical setup, opting to move away from its “Macarena”-spec rear wing following crashes involving Verstappen in Austria and Silverstone. Technical director Pierre Wache confirmed the team is working to address the underlying mechanical issues that led to the previous failures.

“Everybody saw the issue that we had in Silverstone. We are trying to reproduce this issue – we understand now, we try to fix the problem and try to bring back the wing as quick as possible because it’s a performance benefit. Our first priority is to make sure that the car is safe for the driver and for ourselves, and then we bring a normal activation rear wing that is a little bit down on performance but is able to run on the car,” Pierre Wache, Red Bull Technical Director

Verstappen acknowledged that while the car feels balanced, the team has work ahead to optimize performance.

Performance Disparities and Midfield Surprises

The practice sessions highlighted distinct gaps in the field. Alpine driver Franco Colapinto surprised the field by securing seventh place in FP2, outpacing George Russell and finishing 0.15s ahead of the fastest Racing Bull. Colapinto also outperformed his teammate Pierre Gasly, who suffered a significant crash before Stavelot in the second session.

In contrast, the outlook for Aston Martin remains bleak. The team is currently running its existing car while awaiting a B-spec update. Team representative Mike Krack admitted that the squad is fighting for little more than attrition-based gains this weekend.

“We knew this track was going to be probably the hardest of all, but we did not get demotivated by that. We need to be realistic. We are quite far off. The positions you gain are from attrition, but there’s nothing to fight for in terms of result. I think it would be quite naive to think you can do something. For that, we are too far off.” Mike Krack, Aston Martin team representative

The session also saw struggles for other teams. Jak Crawford, standing in for Fernando Alonso, finished 6.129s off the pace, while Isack Hadjar finished fourth in FP1 but faces a back-of-grid engine penalty. Lando Norris also faces a 10-place grid penalty for taking a new battery. As the teams head into Saturday, the focus shifts to resolving long-run degradation and refining qualifying simulations.