Formula One returned to the 2026 Belgian Grand Prix for the opening FP1 session at Spa. As one of the championship’s legendary original tracks, the Belgian circuit used to be far scarier than it is today. However, the modern layout, characterised by long straights and heavy braking zones, has evolved into a venue where it is notoriously easy to overtake. Underneath the dense Ardennes canopy, Max Verstappen laid down an early marker during the FP1 session at Spa, topping the charts with a 1:47.070 after a masterclass on the medium compound tyre.
Right on the Dutchman’s heels was Lewis Hamilton. The Scuderia Ferrari driver managed a 1:50.438 benchmark early on the medium compound, eventually extracting enough lap time to finish a mere 0.145 seconds adrift of Verstappen. His teammate, Charles Leclerc, completed the top three, sitting 0.207 seconds behind the Red Bull machine. These initial paces stood in stark contrast to last year’s references, where Lando Norris claimed pole position with a 1:40.562 and Oscar Piastri took the Sprint pole at 1:40.510.
Grid penalties at Spa
The opening hour of track action in the FP1 session at Spa was heavily punctuated by rookie appearances and looming championship implications. Fernando Alonso sat out the session, handing his Aston Martin seat to Jak Crawford. The American youngster, currently a prominent contender in the Formula 2 championship and a key part of the Silverstone-based team’s young driver development programme, completed his first performance run on the soft tyres with 13 minutes left on the clock.
Further down the pit lane, pre-session adjustments guaranteed a difficult weekend for multiple contenders. Norris entered the weekend facing a harsh ten-place grid penalty for exceeding his engine allocation. Similarly, Red Bull driver Isack Hadjar, who briefly went top of the pile with a 1:47.778 on soft tyres to form a temporary Red Bull 1-2, will also take a grid penalty after exceeding his allowed power unit component limits. Lance Stroll was hit with a subsequent penalty for adopting new power unit elements later in the hour.
Heavy aerodynamic testing across the field
Engineering departments treated the opening session as an extended R&D test bed. Williams Team Principal James Vowles was very candid about the team’s ongoing trajectory:
“There is a little difference between two front wings and we are checking them across the two cars. We are being out-developed by others. We are not delivering everything we should. [2027] is not as carry over as everyone would like, and we have already said we are doing a new chassis. We need to make sure everything we do for next year is correct.” – James Vowles
McLaren spent the first half of the hour running aerodynamic rakes on Norris’ car to test a brand-new rear wing specification, aiming to address a clear straight-line speed deficit. Mercedes also debuted a modified low-downforce rear wing assembly to reduce drag, though George Russell expressed frustration, reporting over the radio: “Tyres are not biting.”
Upgrades were scattered across the field; rookie Arvid Lindblad ran a squarer inlet on his challenger to direct more airflow toward the rear wing, while Liam Lawson evaluated his machinery with visible flow-vis paint splattered across the rear wing assembly.
Track limit dramas and late reliability woe in FP1 session at Spa
The high-speed corners exposed early handling errors. Carlos Sainz had a 1m 52.364s lap deleted within the first 15 minutes for track limits, encountered a double lock-up, and ran wide at Turn 13 along with Stroll and Leclerc. Sainz was also caught in a bizarre incident at Stavelot, baulking Mercedes driver Andrea Kimi Antonelli. The young Italian abandoned his flying lap and fulminated on the radio: “Sainz, what an idiot!”
Antonelli recovered to briefly top the timing sheets with a 1m 47.603s before transitioning into dedicated long-run simulations. Sainz was later noted by the FIA for crossing the white line at pit entry, an incident marked for post-session investigation.
With 10 minutes remaining, Verstappen maintained track dominance, leaving Leclerc fastest on the straights and four key corners while the Dutchman controlled the rest. The final minutes took a dramatic turn when Piastri suffered a late reliability issue, triggering a yellow flag. Race engineer Tom Stallard radioed the Australian with urgency:
“Oscar, keep driving slowly, keep driving slowly, we have hydraulic pressure. I will update you when we lose it, keep going slow and careful.” – Tom Stallard
Piastri lost all power immediately after, drifting to a halt on the tarmac. The running concluded shortly after with the mandatory grid practice starts. Red Bull and Ferrari look noticeably stronger than Mercedes as teams parse through the data collected during the initial FP1 session at Spa in 2026.
