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.

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.