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2026 Formula 1 Belgian GP
Jul 16, 2026 to Jul 19, 2026
| Spa-Francorchamps, BE
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Formula 1 Belgian GP
F1 Belgian GP live commentary and updates - FP1
Follow along for updates from Spa-Francorchamps as F1 gets underway for Belgian GP practice
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Checkered flag
08:35:52 am
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Verstappen's 1m47.070s from earlier on stands as the fastest lap of the session, 0.145s up on Hamilton and 0.207s quicker than Leclerc. Hadjar in P4 comfortably within the three tenths required at Red Bull of a Max teammate.
Then it's a battle of the Mercedes-powered machinery, just four tenths separating the fastest McLaren from the slowest Mercedes. All within a second of Max's best, then the gaps widen as we go past Arvid Lindblad in P9. It's close between the Racing Bulls and the Audis but then we quickly proceed to those who are two seconds or more off the ultimate pace.
P22 was Jak Crawford, 6.129s off Verstappen and underlining the mountain Aston Martin has to climb this season.
08:29:19 am
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Piastri has gone P5 with a 1m47.522s but now he's crawling to a halt as Les Combes... no, he's got it moving again. Team radio indicates hydraulic pressure is the issue.
08:28:03 am
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Not many surprises in terms of the order up front, apart from Red Bull's pace. The Racing Bulls taking their customary position squabbling with the Audis at the back end of the top 10.
08:22:51 am
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Colapinto gets his turn with the C4s and does a 1m49.403s – quicker than his teammate on the same tyre, but not massively quicker than they were going on the hards. Alpine has been elbowing its way towards the front of the midfield in recent rounds but soft-tyre pace hasn't been great relative to the others in this session.
08:19:27 am
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Track temperature has dropped to 37C, by the way.
08:18:27 am
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Norris goes P7 for now with a 1m47.931s, splitting the Mercedes but closer to Russell's time than Antonellis. The McLaren wasn't looking particularly fast through the middle sector, which is the one where you want efficient downforce – and that's been a shortcoming for the McLaren all season.
08:15:19 am
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Antonelli and Russell now back on their previously used mediums, so the qualifying simulations are over for them. Antonelli's fastest lap on the softs was 0.533s off Verstappen's.
08:14:15 am
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Hamilton and Leclerc have now split the Red Bulls – Lewis just 0.145s off Verstappen's benchmark.
08:10:33 am
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And it's "down in one" when the pundits mention Aston Martin's miserable top speed deficit to the rest of the field.
08:09:34 am
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This weekend's drinking game, readers, will be based on the F1 TV direction. Two fingers of your beverage of choice every time they only cut to an in-car shot within 50 metres of the apex of the final corner. Looks like a lot of clipping being done on the way in there, so naturally F1 is keen to show as little of it as possible.
08:06:42 am
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Interesting to look at the Alpines. Gasly has just moved onto softs after doing his early running on hards. Colapinto yet to do the same. Colapinto's best is 1m50.335, Gasly is on the way to improving on his previous best of 1m50.511s.
It's a 1m49.712s, only fractionally faster than Colapinto's C2 time. Looks like the third sector was sub-optimal.
In the meantime, Hamilton has split the Mercedes with a 1m47.711s.
08:01:48 am
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Verstappen and Hadjar take on new softs and depose the Mercedes. Max goes P1 with a 1m47.070s. Russell's push lap was a 1m47.959s, three tenths off his teammate.
08:00:38 am
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Sainz being investigated for crossing the line at the pit entry. F1 TV replay shows him in effect missing the corner and going over the asphalt run off. On the radio he says the gearbox was "pushing" - that's a common feature with these cars, and was happening a lot at Monaco where torque was still being delivered even when the drivers were off-throttle.
07:58:38 am
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Antonelli's previous best was 1m50.397s. He's now gone P1 with a 1m47.603s.
07:57:05 am
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Both Mercedes drivers now out on softs so the qualifying simulations are about to begin. Russell and Antonelli currently P8 and P10 but that is about to change.
07:56:05 am
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Norris now shorn of his aero rakes and back out on track. He's done four laps in total but not set a time, owing to the in/out nature of testing with aero rakes.
07:53:13 am
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So, Stroll in P20 has done a 1m53.664s. That's well over 11s off the fastest FP1 time from last year. Even allowing for this being a different run plan - last year Belgium was a sprint round - that's a big gap.
07:50:07 am
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"Sainz, what an idiot," fulminates Antonelli on the radio as the Williams driver baulks him. He responds with a stroppy swerve across Sainz's nose.
07:49:03 am
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This time last year, of course, Oscar Piastri was fastest in FP1 with a 1m42.022s; Verstappen in P2 was 0.404s off...
07:46:32 am
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Max Verstappen was briefly fastest with a 1m47.859s but Hadjar deposes him with a 1m47.778s. Isack still running on the softs.
07:45:43 am
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Carlos Sainz has had a lap deleted for exceeding track limits at Pouhon. He's currently P18 with a fastest time of 1m52.467s on the mediums.
07:44:21 am
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On that tip, here you go: note how the sidepod of the MP4/2 sweeps inward ahead of the rear wheel, and hugs the gearbox closely to create a channel. First done on this car and much developed ever since.
07:40:23 am
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You might wonder what the point is of measuring the wake of the rear wheels, but actually a lot of work goes into trying to steer the air around them, plus their wake turbulence can affect the quality of the flow from the diffuser and the upper bodywork.
This has been an area of interest since the mid 1980s, when Alan Jenkins conceived the so-called "Coke bottle" rear end for the McLaren MP4/2.
07:37:21 am
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Lando Norris leaves the pits. Don't expect any fireworks, or many laps just yet, since his McLaren is wearing a pair of very large aero rakes behind its rear wheels.
07:36:24 am
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Isack Hadjar, predictably, goes fastest with a 1m48.918s. P2 currently his teammate, Max Verstappen with a 1m49.307s on the mediums.
07:34:27 am
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Everyone except Lando Norris now on track, and running mediums - the C3 - apart from Perez, Colapinto, Bortoleto, Bottas, Gasly and Hulkenberg on hards, and Hadjar on softs.
Green flag
07:33:05 am
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And we're off
At Spa we're always subject to the fickle Ardennes microclimate but for now it's dry and very sunny. So while the air temperature is a moderate 24C, the track temperature is 43C.
07:31:28 am
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Jak Crawford will be driving Fernando Alonso's Aston Martin his session as the team ticks off another of its mandatory 'rookie' FP1 sessions.
07:29:37 am
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This weekend the team will be running Pirelli's C2, C3 and C4 tyres, reverting to previous arrangements. You may recall last year Pirelli introduced a compound 'step', bringing the C1 rather than the C2 in the hope of introducing some strategic variety.
It didn't work.
07:16:50 am
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To be honest, the funniest thing about the FIA press conference yesterday was the smirk on Alex Albon's face as Max Verstappen fielded the millionth question about his future...
07:05:02 am
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HEY MACARENA
Quite a few matters arising already in terms of news. Red Bull is parking its 'Macarena' wing for Spa after two crash-inducing failures for Max Verstappen in previous rounds. Max himself is courting controversy by signing a McLaren junior to his management stable. And Lando Norris will be taking a grid penalty as McLaren finally adopts the new-spec Mercedes engines.
Read Also:
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Formula 1Red Bull parks 'Macarena' rear wing for Belgian GP after Verstappen crashes
07:02:23 am
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WELCOME TO SPA-FRANCORCHAMPS
We're at one of grand prix racing's most evocative locations. What will the effect of the new technical regulations be here at this hallowed speedbowl? Well, with more Straight Line Mode zones than I've had hot dinners this week, the FIA is doing its best to mitigate some of the expected shortcomings...
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By: Stuart Codling
Published: Jul 17, 2026, 12:35 PM
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