FP1 at the 2026 F1 Belgian GP has been completed at the legendary Spa-Francorchamps, view the full session report here.
Sergio Pérez logged the first time of the session on a 1:53.734.
The first driver below the 1:50s was Max Verstappen as he clocked a 1:49.307 on mediums. Red Bull teammate Isack Hadjar then logged a 1:48.918 on softs to take over at the top. Charles Leclerc slotted into P3 as most were on mediums and hards.
On the next runs, Max Verstappen clocked a 1:48.237 to go fastest by 0.227s from his teammate. Hamilton and Leclerc followed, covered by 0.127s. They were well behind the Dutchman, however. Down in 8th, George Russell was complaining about sliding and a lack of grip. Championship leader Kimi Antonelli was 5th at this point.
The times continued to drop. 16 minutes in, Isack Hadjar smashed in a 1:47.778 to regain P1, 0.081s in front of the four-time World Champion. Hamilton and Leclerc continued to run in 3rd and 4th, with the Brit 0.2s ahead.
Sainz faces post-session investigation
Carlos Sainz will see the Stewards after FP1. Having committed to the pit lane entry, he then drove back on to the track. That is not allowed in the regulations.
More cars go to softs in FP1 at the 2026 F1 Belgian GP
Switching to the soft tyres, Kimi Antonelli logged a 1:47.603 to go quickest by 0.175s with 32 minutes left.
Once more, however, Red Bull responded. Max Verstappen clocked a 1:47.070 to go P1, 0.252s ahead of Isack Hadjar.
Following relatively underwhelming first runs, the Ferraris of Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc eventually moved into 2nd and 3rd, 0.145s and 0.207s adrift of car #3 respectively.
Mercedes continued to be a bit away, with Antonelli P6 (+0.533s) and Russell P8 (+0.889s) off the pace. Piastri in 5th and Norris in 7th was how things stood in the top four battle.
In the midfield, Arvid Lindblad was the quickest, 0.172s faster than Gabriel Bortoleto. Lawson was 0.026s slower than the Brazilian but was over half a second clear of Nico Hülkenberg. Ollie Bearman was the only other driver within 2s of the top time.
Albon, Colapinto, Ocon, Gasly, Bottas, Pérez, Sainz, Stroll and Crawford was the remainder of the order. The Spanaird did not get a proper soft time in due to a huge lock-up at turn 1.
In the closing stages, Lance Stroll had to limp back to the pits as a camera on his car came loose. Meanwhile, Gabriel Bortoleto saw his FP1 end early as there was an issue with his Audi.
With less than two minutes to go, Oscar Piastri very briefly stopped at the end of the Kemmel straight. The team reported a hydraulic issue and he was told to return to the pits very slowly once he got going again.
