Author Archives: PressBox

Red Bull’s qualifying plan at Spa centered on a tow strategy that helped Max Verstappen reach the front row of the Belgian Grand Prix grid. Isack Hadjar backed off on both of his Q3 laps to give Verstappen a slipstream to the final chicane, and Verstappen took second place with a 1:44.678, 0.317 seconds behind Mercedes pole-sitter Andrea Kimi Antonelli. Verstappen said Hadjar’s tow was important to the result, and Hadjar said helping Verstappen was the right thing to do. Hadjar did not complete a Q3 lap and will start Sunday’s race from the back of the grid after multiple power unit component changes and a significant penalty later in the weekend.

Verstappen said Red Bull’s car had been quite decent all weekend and that he was happy with how the team executed qualifying. The team also ran Verstappen with a revised rear wing after recent qualifying crashes, and Red Bull used Hadjar’s car to provide the slipstream on both of Verstappen’s Q3 runs. Fans said Red Bull had done everything possible, but Antonelli was still too fast to catch. Verstappen matched his best grid position of the season with the P2 result.

The encouraging qualifying showing followed a strong Friday practice session for Red Bull. Verstappen topped FP1 and was third in FP2, less than half a second behind Antonelli, while Hadjar was fourth in FP1 and fifth in FP2. Verstappen said the RB22 had good balance right away but still needed fine-tuning, and he warned the team was losing time on the straights. Red Bull also saw better signs on longer runs with medium tires, while technical director Pierre Waché said the team had identified the mechanical cause of the rear-wing problem and hoped to return to the original rear wing soon, with safety the top priority.

Max Verstappen’s Friday practice at the Belgian Grand Prix was disrupted by an “unacceptable” gearbox and downshift problem in his Red Bull, with the issue triggering angry team-radio messages during second practice at Spa-Francorchamps. Verstappen said the shifting behavior was unacceptable, and FP2 was much more troublesome than FP1, where he had topped the session for the first time this season.

The problem improved after a software change, and Verstappen said the car was in a decent operating window by the end of the day. He said FP2 was the true picture of Red Bull’s pace, with Kimi Antonelli nearly half a second ahead, and added that the gap was not shocking because Red Bull appeared slightly weaker on Spa’s straights due to energy-management issues.

Red Bull also ran a more conventional older rear wing at Spa after shelving its rotating rear-wing concept, which the team dropped after crashes in Austria and Britain. Verstappen said the wing change should not be decisive and that Red Bull was focused on improving its package, while technical director Pierre Wache said the team still had a lot to improve overnight, including balance and long-run degradation. Verstappen expected Mercedes’ advantage to grow in final practice and qualifying.

Ferrari was fined €10,000 by the FIA after stewards found it breached F1 tyre rules twice during Friday practice at the Belgian Grand Prix. The penalties were €5,000 for each car after the team failed to physically return tyres to the appointed supplier before Free Practice 2, an infringement under Article B6.4.2 involving both Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton.

FIA technical delegate Jo Bauer alerted the stewards after Ferrari electronically returned two sets of dry-weather tyres for each car following Free Practice 1, but did not hand the tyres back in person before the next session began. Ferrari admitted the mistake was an oversight during the hearing, and the FIA treated it as a procedural issue rather than a sporting advantage, so no sporting penalties were imposed. Hamilton finished second in Free Practice 1 and fourth in Free Practice 2, while Leclerc was third in Free Practice 1 and 11th in Free Practice 2.

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.