Belgian Grand Prix FP1: Max Verstappen sets the pace ahead of Ferrari, Mercedes off
F1 NewsFriday, 17 July 2026 at 14:30
Four-time Formula 1 Champion Max Verstappen topped the first practice session for the 2026 Belgian Grand Prix at Spa on Friday as Lewis Hamilton was second fastest and Charles Leclerc third.
It was a decent start for Red Bull Racing and Verstappen after the woes of Silverstone where he crashed after struggling for pace.
The Dutchman was fast out of the box, particularly in the middle sector, despite not having his Macarena rear wing on his RB22 and posted a lap time of 1:47.070, 0.145s ahead of Hamilton who was second in the Ferrari as Leclerc was 0.062s further down the road in third.
Isack Hadjar was fourth fastest in the other Red Bull Racing car, 0.252s off the pace of his teammate as Oscar Piastri was fifth, two tenths behind the Frenchman.
Mercedes, on the other hand, had a slow start as Kimi Antonelli was their fastest driver, sixth and over half a second off the pace. Are they sandbagging? Haven't dialed that power unit up?
Reigning F1 Champion Lando Norris was seventh in the second McLaren ahead of fellow Briton George Russell who was eighth.
Arvid Lindblad was ninth for Racing Bulls with Gabriel Bortoleto completing the top ten in the Audi.
Buildup towards FP1
After a short break following the 2026 British Grand Prix, F1 heads into the final double header before the summer break with Spa being out destination this weekend before Hungary concluded the first half of the season.
Ferrari and Leclerc won last time out while Mercedes should've dominated Silverstone on paper. They suffered from reliability with Antonelli while Russell lucked into a podium.
Spa should suit Mercedes in theory but they are wary not to rule out another Ferrari surprise.
Red Bull on the other hand will not run their crash-causing Macarena wing as McLaren are planning to test their version of it. Mercedes and Audi are also sampling new versions of rear wings.
There are no major upgrades this weekend with most teams bringing bits and pieces some of which specific to the aero requirements of Spa.
Racing Bulls have a new engine/coke cover and new roll hoop, one of the significant upgrades on track this weekend.
In terms of tyres, Pirelli have brought their C2 (Hard), C3 (Medium), C4 (Soft) compounds this weekend.
A warm welcome to Jak Crawford 👋
— Formula 1 (@F1) July 17, 2026
He's taken the reins of Fernando Alonso's car for FP1#F1 #BelgianGP pic.twitter.com/1IGykrZhPs
As for drivers, Fernando Alonso will sit out FP1 with Jak Crawford taking over his car.
But the elephant in the room will be the energy-starved 2026 F1 cars and how the are expected to fare around Spa, a track that requires some grunt.
FP1 Session Highlights
Despite rain being expected, the session started in dry conditions with track temperature at 40 degrees Celsius with air temperature at 24 degrees.
The drivers were up and running almost immediately as the green light for FP1 was given.
The majority of the teams were on the Medium tyres at the start with a dew on Hards and Softs.
McLaren, testing a new rear wing, sent Norris out on track with aero rakes bolted to the rear of the his MCL40.
Lando Norris has been circulating with aero rakes at the rear of his McLaren early in FP1 👀#F1 #BelgianGP pic.twitter.com/QY2agk6wZz
— Formula 1 (@F1) July 17, 2026
Norris has a ten-place-grid penalty this weekend for a new power electronics unit with Hadjar having a new engine and also getting a penalty.
Antonelli and Sainz had a moment out on track and neither of them was happy with the other. The Italian called the Spaniard an idiot and swerved in front of him...
Hadjar reported that his legs and hands were toughing in the cockpit and that he did not have enough clearance, a "bit weird".
We see you, Isack! 👀#F1 #BelgianGP pic.twitter.com/IoQaZ8EtuO
— Formula 1 (@F1) July 17, 2026
Sainz was notes for crossing the line at the pit entry. Replay showed the Spaniard going into the pits then changing his mind in the last minute. He admitted it was a "mess" and reporting that "the gearbox was pushing"...
Towards the second half of the session, the teams started their performance runs with Soft tyres making an appearance.
Now Verstappen nails a lap on the softs and goes top 💪#F1 #BelgianGP pic.twitter.com/tljirux79C
— Formula 1 (@F1) July 17, 2026
Up to this point, Ferrari and Red Bull Racing seemed to be setting the pace with Mercedes quite off the pace.
Verstappen seems to be in overall control as his lap time held on as rivals when on with their performance runs on Softs.
Leclerc slots into P3 with just under 20 mins to go in FP1
— Formula 1 (@F1) July 17, 2026
TOP 5
Verstappen
Hamilton
Leclerc
Hadjar
Antonelli#F1 #BelgianGP pic.twitter.com/Ljqt1u4TD6
Towards the final ten minutes, the teams reverted to long runs on high fuel loads.
Towards the end of the session, Piastri parked on the side of the track. He was on his way again but the team told him to drive back slowly to the pits as he was losing hydraulic pressure.
The Australian managed to make it to the McLaren garage and the session was concluded with practice starts.
Belgian Grand Prix FP1 Classification
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