2026 Belgian GP FP2: Antonelli hits back with fastest time

Kimi Antonelli responded in style during Friday afternoon’s second practice for the Belgian Grand Prix, setting the quickest lap of a session interrupted by two red flags to put Mercedes back on top at Spa-Francorchamps. The championship leader headed McLaren’s Lando Norris and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen.

Antonelli, who arrived in Belgium holding a 25-point advantage at the top of the Drivers’ standings, controlled much of the one-hour session and ultimately produced the benchmark lap of 1:45.944. The Italian’s performance came during a stop-start afternoon that saw the action halted first to clear gravel from the circuit before Pierre Gasly’s heavy late accident triggered a second red flag.

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Although rain showers swept across Spa-Francorchamps between the day’s two practice sessions, the weather had cleared by the time FP2 began. Drivers were greeted by dry asphalt and bright sunshine, allowing teams to immediately switch their focus towards qualifying simulations and longer race runs.

2026 Belgian Grand Prix FP2 Results

2026 Belgian Grand Prix FP2, 17 July 2026

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Time / Gap	Laps
1	12	Kimi Antonelli	Mercedes	1:45.944	18
2	1	Lando Norris	McLaren	+0.190s	18
3	3	Max Verstappen	Red Bull Racing	+0.472s	21
4	44	Lewis Hamilton	Ferrari	+0.747s	16
5	6	Isack Hadjar	Red Bull Racing	+0.770s	20
6	81	Oscar Piastri	McLaren	+0.982s	11
7	43	Franco Colapinto	Alpine	+1.203s	20
8	63	George Russell	Mercedes	+1.285s	20
9	41	Arvid Lindblad	Racing Bulls	+1.350s	20
10	30	Liam Lawson	Racing Bulls	+1.490s	16
11	16	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	+1.524s	18
12	87	Oliver Bearman	Haas F1 Team	+1.848s	16
13	5	Gabriel Bortoleto	Audi	+2.008s	17
14	31	Esteban Ocon	Haas F1 Team	+2.014s	19
15	23	Alexander Albon	Williams	+2.075s	19
16	55	Carlos Sainz	Williams	+2.312s	19
17	27	Nico Hulkenberg	Audi	+2.389s	16
18	10	Pierre Gasly	Alpine	+3.011s	15
19	77	Valtteri Bottas	Cadillac	+3.255s	19
20	11	Sergio Perez	Cadillac	+3.652s	20
21	18	Lance Stroll	Aston Martin	+5.187s	17
22	14	Fernando Alonso	Aston Martin	+5.474s	19

Most of the field wasted little time leaving the pit lane once the green light appeared, but Oscar Piastri’s participation was delayed by around 20 minutes while McLaren mechanics completed repairs following the hydraulic issue that prematurely ended his opening practice session.

The majority of the grid began on Pirelli’s medium compound, with Antonelli immediately laying down an impressive marker. His opening effort of 1:46.911 was already faster than Max Verstappen’s FP1 benchmark and briefly established Mercedes as the team to beat.

That early lap left Antonelli just 0.011 seconds clear of Racing Bulls driver Isack Hadjar, while Verstappen sat only 0.031 seconds behind after the opening exchanges. Charles Leclerc, Lando Norris and George Russell remained within striking distance, while Lewis Hamilton’s early attempt was compromised after running deep into the final Bus Stop chicane, leaving the Ferrari driver down in ninth.

Mercedes searched for further improvements, but Russell’s second flying lap failed to deliver the expected gains. The Briton remained more than a second slower than his team-mate, while Verstappen’s own challenge for top spot unravelled after dipping a wheel into the gravel at Turn 14. The mistake compromised his final sector and scattered debris across the circuit, forcing race control to deploy the session’s first red flag after approximately 15 minutes so marshals could clear the racing line.

Once the circuit reopened, teams quickly resumed their qualifying programmes. Hadjar became the first driver to bolt on the soft-compound tyres, climbing back to the top of the timing screens with a 1:46.714. Although the lap moved him ahead of the field, it was only around two-tenths quicker than his earlier medium-tyre effort, highlighting the strong pace he had already shown throughout the afternoon.

The benchmark continued to tumble as the session gathered momentum. Verstappen briefly lowered the target before Antonelli responded once again, becoming the first driver to break beneath the 1m46s barrier with an impressive 1:45.944 that ultimately remained unbeaten for the remainder of FP2.

Ferrari also showed encouraging pace on the soft tyres, with Hamilton and Leclerc sandwiching Hadjar after completing their qualifying simulations. McLaren, meanwhile, delayed its headline runs slightly longer than several rivals, with both Norris and Russell waiting until just before the halfway point before switching onto the red-walled Pirelli compound.

While Russell again struggled to unlock the performance, improving only to seventh and finishing 1.2 seconds behind Antonelli, Norris produced a much stronger lap. The McLaren driver vaulted into second place, ending the session just under two tenths adrift of the Mercedes after extracting significantly more pace from the softer tyre.

Russell’s frustration was evident over team radio after another difficult qualifying simulation.

“The rears felt too cold, but not 1.2 seconds cold,” the Briton remarked as Mercedes began analysing why the two cars were delivering such contrasting performances over a single lap.

Elsewhere, Franco Colapinto briefly climbed into sixth place during a busy period of the session as teams gradually transitioned away from qualifying simulations and concentrated on heavier fuel loads and race preparation ahead of Sunday’s 44-lap Grand Prix.

The closing stages, however, were interrupted by another incident. With around 15 minutes remaining, Pierre Gasly suffered a sizeable accident on the exit of Turn 13, sending his Alpine into the barriers and leaving the car with extensive rear-end damage. The Frenchman’s crash immediately brought out a second red flag while recovery crews removed the stricken machine.

Although the session resumed with just two minutes left on the clock, there was insufficient time for drivers to improve their lap times, confirming Antonelli at the top of the order ahead of Norris and Verstappen.

Hamilton ended the afternoon fourth for Ferrari, with Hadjar continuing his impressive Friday by taking fifth despite carrying a significant grid penalty into the weekend. Piastri recovered from his delayed start to finish sixth after McLaren’s earlier repair work.

Colapinto ultimately retained seventh position for Alpine ahead of Russell, while Racing Bulls pair Arvid Lindblad and Liam Lawson rounded out the top 10.

Leclerc narrowly missed out on the leading group in 11th, followed by Haas driver Ollie Bearman, Audi’s Gabriel Bortoleto, the second Haas of Esteban Ocon and the Williams duo of Alex Albon and Carlos Sainz.

Nico Hülkenberg finished 17th for Audi ahead of the recovering Gasly, while Cadillac drivers Valtteri Bottas and Sergio Perez occupied 19th and 20th respectively. Aston Martin endured a difficult afternoon, with Lance Stroll and Fernando Alonso completing the classification more than five seconds away from Antonelli’s session-leading pace.