Max Verstappen rues VSC timing as Red Bull celebrate 300th podium at Belgian Grand prix

Red Bull's four time Formula 1 World champion briefly took the lead from P2 on the grid during an aggressive opening lap at Spa-Francorchamps. However, Kimi Antonelli reclaimed first place on the Kemmel Straight before Leclerc also found a way past Verstappen.

Verstappen remained close enough to challenge the Ferrari during the opening stint. But the timing of the Virtual Safety Car allowed Leclerc to complete his pit stop and rejoin ahead of the Dutchman.

Antonelli ultimately claimed his sixth victory of the season, finishing almost two seconds ahead of Leclerc. Verstappen completed the podium and secured Red Bull Racing’s 300th Formula 1 podium finish. It was also Verstappen’s 130th career podium and his third top-three result of the 2026 season.

Verstappen described the Belgian Grand Prix weekend as one of Red Bull’s most straightforward of the campaign, with the car immediately operating inside a competitive window: “It was actually one of the easiest weekends we've had."

"Everything was quite straight forward, the car was straight away in a decent window. In that respect, it was quite a normal weekend, which is a positive. I tried everything I could during the race. The first stint wasn't too bad," added the Dutch ace.

However, Verstappen struggled after switching to the hard compound. Understeer prevented him from pushing hard enough to match Antonelli and Leclerc during the second half of the race. He explained: “The second stint was a little bit worse. On the hard tyres I couldn't really push and I had a lot of understeer.

“That means you have to adapt your driving style, and you simply can't match the pace of the cars ahead," ventured Verstappen, who believed the Virtual Safety Car denied him an opportunity to fight Leclerc, although Antonelli was also compromised by the timing.

He said: “At the same time, Kimi and I were both a little unlucky with the virtual safety car. Otherwise, I could have potentially fought with Leclerc for P2. In the end, we're on the podium, so we can't complain too much. To be on the podium here is a very good result for us. I gave everything I had, and P3 is a good result.”

In the sister Red Bull, Isack Hadjar delivered an impressive recovery drive from 21st on the grid to finish sixth, completing a strong points haul for Red Bull. The Frenchman started from the back after sacrificing his qualifying result to help Verstappen secure a tow. Red Bull then used the early Safety Car to put Hadjar onto an alternative strategy.

Hadjar steadily worked through the field and maintained enough pace to stay ahead of Lando Norris during the closing stages: “I'm very happy with how today played out. We had a clear plan from the moment we arrived in Spa, so we were able to put everything into getting the most out of the race, and we did exactly that.

“From P21 to P6 is not easy, but the strategy was perfect and the pace in the car was strong, so it's been an all-round Team effort. With the Safety Car, we pitted early to give us options later on, and it worked out perfectly. Credit to the Team for that call.

“Going through the pack is always fun, especially with the pace we had, which let me keep the gap to Lando once he started to get closer. The goal yesterday was to get back into the points. We added a few more on top of that to make for a satisfying afternoon," declared Hadjar.

Red Bull Team Principal Laurent Mekies praised both drivers, although he admitted Antonelli remained beyond the team’s reach on outright race pace: “A strong weekend for the whole Team. It was good to be in the top three in Qualifying, but it’s even better to be here on race day and have the pace.

“As we said yesterday, Kimi was probably beyond us today, but behind him Max was right there. He was running well for P2 on merit, then the VSC happened and that cost us. But that’s part of the game. We are happy about our 300th podium, as well as Max’s 130th podium.”

Mekies hailed Hadjar’s recovery and his consistent support to Verstappen: “Isack also showed extremely strong pace, coming through from 21st on the grid to take P6 at the flag. It was certainly his best race with us. It seems like every time he takes another step forward. It’s great to have two very strong cars.”

Red Bull have now fought for the podium at three consecutive races. However, Mekies insists the objective remains closing the remaining performance gap and returning to winning contention: “We won’t stop until we find those final few tenths needed to get back to winning races.”

Attention now turns to the Hungarian Grand Prix, where Red Bull will face a circuit offering completely different demands to Spa-Francorchamps.