Author Archives: PressBox

Max Verstappen topped opening practice for Red Bull at the Belgian Grand Prix in Spa-Francorchamps, setting a best lap of 1:47.070 in dry conditions on soft tires. He finished 0.145 seconds ahead of Lewis Hamilton’s Ferrari, while Charles Leclerc was third. It was the first time this season that a car without a Mercedes or Ferrari engine led a practice session, and Red Bull had fitted an older rear-wing specification to Verstappen’s car for FP1.

Isack Hadjar briefly led early on soft tires before Verstappen moved ahead and stayed quickest for the rest of the hour. Hadjar ended up fourth, Oscar Piastri was fifth after showing strong pace before a late hydraulic pressure problem, and Andrea Kimi Antonelli was among the front runners after briefly going to the top of the timesheets. Reports varied on Antonelli’s final placing, with one source listing him fifth and another sixth. Lando Norris and George Russell also finished inside the top 10, while Gabriel Bortoleto had minor issues and Carlos Sainz was cited for a pit-entry line infringement.

Aston Martin had a difficult session at the back of the field. Reserve driver Jak Crawford ran in Fernando Alonso’s car as part of the team’s mandatory rookie-running plan and finished 22nd, while Lance Stroll was 21st after an apparent front-wing camera-mount issue. Stroll was 5.738 seconds slower than Verstappen, and Aston Martin said the FP1 data underlined the pace problems with its current car, with its B-spec AMR26 expected to arrive in Hungary as a clearer improvement.

Isack Hadjar will start the Belgian Grand Prix from the back of the grid after Red Bull fitted his RB22 with new internal combustion engine, turbocharger and exhaust components beyond his 2026 allocation. The changes triggered cumulative grid penalties that exceeded 15 places, which under Formula 1 rules converts to a rear-of-grid start. Hadjar said Red Bull will focus on race pace at Spa-Francorchamps, where he expects overtaking chances to give him a way back through the field, and he said another top-six finish would be difficult from 22nd after qualifying.

Lando Norris and Lance Stroll also picked up penalties for component changes at Spa. McLaren confirmed Norris will take a new control electronics unit and receive a 10-place grid drop, while Aston Martin fitted Stroll with a fourth MGU-K, also bringing a 10-place penalty. FIA technical delegate Jo Bauer confirmed the new components and said Stroll’s part was not in conformity with the sporting regulations, which triggered the automatic sanction.

Hadjar’s penalty came after Red Bull fitted new power unit elements that went beyond the season limit for those parts. He had already suffered engine-related problems earlier in the year, including a retirement in Australia and a lost chance at a podium in Monaco. McLaren chose Belgium for Norris’s component change because Spa’s layout offers better overtaking than Hungary or Zandvoort, and Red Bull teammate Max Verstappen also took new power unit parts without incurring a penalty.

Oscar Piastri moved to shut down speculation over Max Verstappen taking his McLaren seat, saying ahead of the Belgian Grand Prix that he would be a McLaren driver next season and in 2027. Piastri said he was very comfortable at the team, trusted McLaren’s leadership and was not bothered by the rumors, after receiving reassurance from team principal Andrea Stella and CEO Zak Brown. His manager, Mark Webber, also dismissed the talk, saying there had been “a lot of fiction written” about Verstappen joining McLaren, and Brown said he was happy with McLaren’s current driver lineup.

The rumors persisted as reports said Verstappen was in advanced talks with McLaren, even though he remains under contract to Red Bull through 2028. Piastri said Verstappen appeared to be exploring options because Red Bull was not in a strong position, comparing the situation to last summer’s speculation about a possible move to Mercedes that did not happen. Verstappen has been linked to an exit clause if he is lower than second in the championship at the summer break, and he is currently seventh, 78 points behind George Russell in second, with 50 points still available before the August shutdown. Verstappen declined to discuss his future in detail at Spa.

Piastri also turned to the track, saying McLaren was likely to be the third- or fourth-quickest car at Spa and that he hoped upcoming upgrades would help the team close the gap to the front-runners. He is trying to recover from a scoreless finish at Silverstone after an opening-lap collision and an unscheduled pit stop. Piastri said his win at last year’s Belgian Grand Prix venue gives him a chance to make up points if other drivers run into trouble.

Red Bull switched back to a conventional rear wing for the Belgian Grand Prix after two rear-wing-related failures in successive weekends helped trigger Max Verstappen’s crashes in Britain and Austria. Team principal Laurent Mekies said tests carried out since Silverstone found a problem with the rotating design, and Red Bull chose a standard setup that opens for straight-line mode in the usual way.

Red Bull and Ferrari had introduced the rear-wing concept this year, with the top flap rotating more than 180 degrees to reduce drag and boost straight-line speed. Mekies said Red Bull had found a problem in testing after Silverstone and did not specify the exact cause beyond an apparent aerodynamic disruption when the wing reverted to cornering mode. He said the team would do what was necessary to avoid a repeat.

Verstappen described the repeated faults as “super dangerous” and said he was lucky not to be hurt. The FIA has spoken with Red Bull and Ferrari about the wing designs on safety grounds and has begun looking into the technology. Photos from Spa showed the revised Red Bull wing on Verstappen’s and Isack Hadjar’s cars, and the circuit features five straight-mode zones this weekend, including the approach to Eau Rouge.