Max Verstappen upbeat after Friday practice at Spa but warns Red Bull remain slower on the straights

The Red Bull driver ended FP2 behind Mercedes pace-setter Kimi Antonelli and McLaren’s Lando Norris, but was encouraged by the RB22’s balance around the demanding Belgian circuit.

Verstappen said the Red Bull had immediately operated inside a competitive window, although he admitted: “It’s been a good day, the car is in a good window. The balance was there right away, but we still need to do some fine tuning. I’m not sure how much more pace we can find as you see the real gap in FP2.”

Spa’s long flat-out sections and complex energy demands have placed particular pressure on the 2026 Formula 1 cars. Verstappen said Red Bull were losing ground to their main rivals on the straights, despite the RB22 performing well through the corners.

“It’s a challenging track with the energy management as we’re slower on the straights compared to our competitors, but the balance is pretty good,” the four-time World Champion explained. “We’ll just keep focussing on ourselves and hopefully we can close the gap in qualifying.”

Verstappen began FP2 strongly, setting an early lap good enough for third behind Antonelli and Red Bull teammate Isack Hadjar. His session briefly went wrong when he ran off the circuit at Turn 14, dragging gravel back onto the racing line and causing a short red-flag interruption.

The Red Bull escaped without damage and Verstappen quickly returned to the track. After switching to a new set of soft tyres, he climbed to P2 behind Antonelli. The Mercedes driver held an advantage of almost half a second before Norris moved between them during the qualifying simulations.

Verstappen consequently ended the low-fuel runs third fastest. Red Bull received more encouraging signals when the Dutch ace switched to the medium compound and began his preparations for Sunday’s race.

The Dutchman was able to match Antonelli’s pace during the early stages of the longer runs, suggesting Red Bull could be more competitive over a Grand Prix distance. Running was interrupted again with 15 minutes remaining when Pierre Gasly crashed heavily at Turn 13.

In the other Red Bull, Isack Hadjar summed up his Friday: “The pace in the car was good from my first lap out there today. It feels like we’ve made a step forward in performance since Silverstone, which is positive.

"I felt pretty good and, going into FP2, we tried to carry that on. In the second session, the gap to the leaders increased, so we'll look into where we can catch up. Overall, it was a solid day and it's good to be in the picture," Hadjar concluded.

The impact caused extensive damage to the rear of the Alpine and scattered debris across the circuit, although Gasly emerged unharmed. Marshals cleared the damaged car and debris before the session resumed with only a few minutes remaining, allowing the drivers to complete practice starts.

Antonelli remained fastest throughout FP2, with Norris second and Verstappen third. Red Bull must now determine whether setup changes can reduce their straight-line deficit without compromising the encouraging balance Verstappen found through Spa’s high-speed corners.
(Reporting by Agnes Carlier from Spa-Francorchamps)