2026 Belgian GP FP1: Verstappen strikes first as Ferrari lead the chase

The opening session of the Belgian Grand Prix weekend belonged to Max Verstappen, who delivered the fastest lap of Free Practice 1 to edge out Ferrari pair Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc as Formula 1 returned to the legendary Spa-Francorchamps circuit. The first hour of running offered an early glimpse at the competitive order—and suggested Red Bull and Ferrari could be the teams to beat.

Verstappen produced a benchmark lap of 1:47.070 despite Red Bull reverting to an older-specification rear wing following the damage sustained during recent crashes in Austria and Silverstone. The Dutchman steadily built confidence throughout the 60-minute session and ultimately finished just over a tenth of a second clear of Hamilton, while Leclerc ensured Ferrari occupied two of the top three positions as the Scuderia continued the strong form that has seen it emerge as a genuine contender over recent rounds.

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Away from outright pace, the weekend began with significant news for two drivers already facing uphill battles before a wheel had turned. McLaren’s Lando Norris arrived at Spa carrying a 10-place grid penalty after taking new power unit components, while Racing Bulls’ Isack Hadjar was set to start from the back of the grid after receiving a 20-place penalty following multiple component changes ahead of Sunday’s 44-lap race.

2026 Belgian Grand Prix FP1 Results

2026 Belgian Grand Prix FP1, 17 July 2026

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Time / Gap	Laps
1	3	Max Verstappen	Red Bull Racing	1:47.070	24
2	44	Lewis Hamilton	Ferrari	+0.145s	22
3	16	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	+0.207s	22
4	6	Isack Hadjar	Red Bull Racing	+0.252s	23
5	81	Oscar Piastri	McLaren	+0.452s	21
6	12	Kimi Antonelli	Mercedes	+0.533s	23
7	1	Lando Norris	McLaren	+0.861s	19
8	63	George Russell	Mercedes	+0.889s	22
9	41	Arvid Lindblad	Racing Bulls	+1.164s	24
10	5	Gabriel Bortoleto	Audi	+1.336s	18
11	30	Liam Lawson	Racing Bulls	+1.362s	24
12	27	Nico Hulkenberg	Audi	+1.892s	23
13	87	Oliver Bearman	Haas F1 Team	+1.940s	21
14	23	Alexander Albon	Williams	+2.267s	24
15	43	Franco Colapinto	Alpine	+2.333s	23
16	31	Esteban Ocon	Haas F1 Team	+2.379s	21
17	10	Pierre Gasly	Alpine	+2.642s	23
18	77	Valtteri Bottas	Cadillac	+2.769s	21
19	11	Sergio Perez	Cadillac	+3.156s	22
20	55	Carlos Sainz	Williams	+3.792s	25
21	18	Lance Stroll	Aston Martin	+5.738s	19
22	34	Jak Crawford	Aston Martin	+6.129s	22

When the pit lane opened, it was Williams’ Carlos Sainz who led the field onto the circuit, but George Russell was the first driver to register a representative lap with a 1:50.654. That early benchmark survived only briefly before both Hamilton and Verstappen lowered the standard as grip levels steadily improved around the recently resurfaced Spa circuit.

Hadjar became the first driver to dip below the 1m49s barrier after fitting the soft-compound tyres early in the session, making him something of an outlier while the majority of the field gathered data on the medium compound. Verstappen soon unlocked more pace from his Red Bull, slicing significant chunks from his lap time during the opening 10 minutes, while Racing Bulls team-mate Liam Lawson survived an early scare after narrowly avoiding a trip through the gravel.

While Red Bull immediately appeared competitive, McLaren took a different approach during the opening phase. Norris spent much of the early running carrying aero rakes as the team evaluated new components before briefly switching onto the soft tyres, although the Briton never completed a representative qualifying-style lap during that phase of the session.

One of the most animated moments came from championship leader Kimi Antonelli. Running outside the top 10 during the opening half of FP1, the Mercedes driver was forced into evasive action after encountering a slow-moving Sainz on track. Frustrated by the incident, the Italian branded the Williams driver “what an idiot” over team radio, while Sainz’s afternoon became even more complicated after he was noted by race control for crossing the line at the pit entry. The incident will be investigated following the conclusion of first practice.

As the session reached its halfway point, attention turned towards qualifying simulations as more teams bolted on the soft-compound tyres. Verstappen immediately responded, reclaiming top spot with an advantage of around two tenths over team-mate Arvid Lindblad before Ferrari joined the fight. Hamilton and Leclerc both extracted impressive pace from the softer rubber to move into second and third respectively, comfortably establishing Ferrari as Red Bull’s closest challenger heading into the remainder of the day.

Mercedes, by contrast, struggled to match that outright speed. Both Antonelli and Russell improved on soft tyres but remained more than half a second adrift of Verstappen’s benchmark, prompting Antonelli to ask his engineers to move away from qualifying simulations.

Describing the car as “a bit edgy” over a single lap, the championship leader instead requested that the team concentrate on longer race runs, suggesting Mercedes may still have work to do before qualifying despite showing encouraging pace over extended stints.

The order at the front remained unchanged through to the chequered flag, with Verstappen comfortably holding onto P1 ahead of Hamilton and Leclerc. Hadjar impressed to finish fourth despite his looming grid penalty, underlining the encouraging pace shown by Racing Bulls throughout the opening session.

Oscar Piastri completed the top five for McLaren, although his session ended on a worrying note after suffering a hydraulic pressure issue. The Australian briefly pulled off the circuit before receiving instructions from his race engineer to carefully nurse the car back to the pit lane.

Antonelli ultimately finished sixth ahead of Norris, Russell, Lindblad and Gabriel Bortoleto, who completed the top 10. Lawson narrowly missed out on a place inside the leading group in 11th, followed by Nico Hülkenberg, Ollie Bearman, Alex Albon and Franco Colapinto.

Further down the order, Esteban Ocon marked the 10th anniversary of his Formula 1 debut by finishing 16th, ahead of Alpine team-mate Pierre Gasly. Cadillac’s experienced pairing of Valtteri Bottas and Sergio Perez followed, while Sainz endured a frustrating session that left him at the foot of the timing screens in 20th after his earlier incident with Antonelli. Aston Martin rounded out the classification, with Lance Stroll finishing 21st and reserve driver Jak Crawford placing 22nd after taking over Fernando Alonso’s car for the opening practice session.