Author Archives: PressBox

Carlos Sainz received a reprimand from FIA stewards after a pit-entry breach in first practice at the Belgian Grand Prix, where onboard footage showed him crossing the white line at Spa after he had been told to enter the pit lane. He then got a late instruction to stay out and rejoin the circuit to recharge his battery, and the stewards said Sainz acknowledged the breach and judged the maneuver was not dangerous in this case. It was his first reprimand of the 2026 Formula 1 season, and drivers are allowed four before a fifth brings an automatic 10-place grid penalty.

The incident came after Sainz was initially placed under investigation for Friday FP1 at Spa, with Sainz and a Williams representative required to report to the stewards at 15:15 local time. He said on team radio that a gearbox issue caused the confusion. Sainz finished 20th and last in FP1, about 3.8 seconds behind Max Verstappen and around 1.4 to 1.5 seconds slower than teammate Alex Albon. He entered the weekend 15th in the drivers’ standings with six of Williams’ 11 points, while the team sat eighth in the constructors’ championship.

Sainz also faced a separate investigation in final practice for allegedly failing to slow under double-waved yellow flags after Lewis Hamilton crashed at Turn 13. He came up behind Verstappen at the scene, locked up while trying to slow down, and Verstappen complained on radio that the Williams nearly hit the back of his car. The stewards summoned Verstappen for his account, and the episode followed another close call earlier in the weekend when Mercedes rookie Andrea Kimi Antonelli called Sainz an idiot over the radio.

Lewis Hamilton’s Belgian Grand Prix weekend was thrown into uncertainty after he crashed at the end of final practice at Spa-Francorchamps, leaving Ferrari facing major repair work before qualifying. Hamilton lost control late at Les Fagnes during a soft-tyre run, ran wide into the gravel and clipped the barriers with the rear-right corner of the car. He told the team over the radio that he was unharmed, apologized for the incident and sounded disappointed as Ferrari rushed to assess damage that may have gone beyond the suspension and could have included the gearbox.

The crash came after a mixed but encouraging Friday for Ferrari, with Hamilton saying the team has a solid foundation but still needs more pace for Saturday qualifying. He finished second in first practice, within a tenth of Max Verstappen, then took fourth in second practice with a best lap of 1m46.691s, 0.747 seconds behind Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli. Hamilton said Ferrari’s main weakness was in the middle sector and that the team would work overnight with engineers to improve the setup. Charles Leclerc was third in FP1, dropped to 11th in FP2 after a lap deletion for exceeding track limits, and later said there was still room to unlock more competitiveness.

Antonelli topped FP2 and FP3 with a 1:45.990 in final practice, though reports varied on the order behind him, with some placing Verstappen second and Norris third, and others reversing that. Hamilton briefly moved up to second in FP3 with a 1:46.789 before his crash, and Leclerc finished sixth after traffic hurt his first lap. Hamilton said after Friday’s running that Ferrari had more ground to make up than expected, even as he led Leclerc in both practice sessions. He arrived at Spa third in the championship, seven points behind George Russell, as he continued his bid for a record eighth title.

McLaren ended Friday at the Belgian Grand Prix cautiously optimistic after Lando Norris took second in FP2 at Spa-Francorchamps, 0.190 seconds behind Mercedes driver Andrea Kimi Antonelli. Norris was the only driver within two tenths of Antonelli in the soft-tyre runs, while Oscar Piastri was sixth after a session disrupted by a hydraulic leak and a gearbox change. Norris is set to serve a 10-place grid penalty on Sunday after McLaren fitted a fourth power electronics unit, and the team said the wider pace picture was still hard to judge.

Norris said McLaren had improved by nearly 1.8 seconds from FP1 to FP2, but urged restraint, saying the team was “not getting ahead of ourselves” and that the car still felt very difficult to drive.

Pierre Gasly’s heavy crash at Spa-Francorchamps brought Friday practice to a halt and set the tone for the Belgian Grand Prix run-in, with the Alpine driver losing the rear of his car through the Fagnes chicane, hitting the barrier and tearing off the rear wing and right-rear wheel. The crash came after Gasly had already had a lap deleted for track limits at Raidillon, and Alpine managing director Steve Nielsen said the car likely got onto the kerb after a small snap at Turn 14 before striking the wall. Gasly said the session had still been productive, but Alpine now had to choose the best setup options for the rest of the weekend. Gasly was classified 18th in FP2, 11 places behind teammate Franco Colapinto, who finished seventh.

Ferrari became one of the first teams to lap Madrid’s new MADRING circuit on July 9 during a filming day, with construction still continuing and the venue not yet fully completed weeks before it is due to host the Spanish Grand Prix on September 13. The early running eased concerns about whether the track would be ready in time.

Lewis Hamilton said the new layout looked like a difficult place to overtake because it had few straights, little grip and a lot of dust. He described the circuit as more of a qualifying-lap track than a racing track, said temperatures were around 60 degrees in heavy heat, and said there was not much to learn from the limited running. He also called the experience of being first on a new circuit cool.

Charles Leclerc said he liked the circuit immediately and singled out the cambered La Monumental corner as very special. He said the high-speed turn could become one of the season’s most iconic corners and that drivers would need to be very brave and fully committed through it in qualifying.

Racing Bulls gave Arvid Lindblad the only available upgrade package for the Belgian Grand Prix at Spa-Francorchamps after the team and both drivers agreed that the better qualifier at Silverstone would get it. Lindblad beat Liam Lawson 9th to 10th in qualifying at Silverstone, so he received the parts because the team could not complete the chassis changes on both cars in time.

Team principal Alan Permane said the package combined a narrow roll hoop cooling upgrade with a resource-intensive chassis modification, plus a redesigned engine cover, revised rear wing, new front brake drum assembly and other bodywork updates. He said he had warned Lawson and Lindblad in Austria and joked about skipping Spa or deciding by coin flip before they settled on qualifying position.

Permane said Racing Bulls started its 2026 car late because it had prioritized sixth place in the 2025 constructors’ championship. He added that the floor upgrade introduced in Canada had helped “switch on” the car and that improved race pace in Austria and Silverstone showed the recent gains, while Lawson is set to receive the next major upgrade automatically if the same issue happens again later in the season.

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.