FP2 for the 2026 F1 Belgian GP began under hot and sunny conditions at the Spa-Francorchamps circuit, after earlier rain had halted activities in the feeder series.
Piastri misses first part of 2026 F1 Belgian GP FP2
After suffering from an hydraulic failure in first practice, Oscar Piastri’s McLaren still wasn’t ready to join the action when the green light appeared at the end of the pit lane for the start of the second session.
After 10 minutes of running, it was championship leader Kimi Antonelli who stood on top with a time of a 1:46.911, just 11 milliseconds ahead of Red Bull’s Isack Hadjar. Max Verstappen slotted into third just two hundredths of a second further back, with Arvid Lindblad – in the updated Racing Bulls – in fourth, four tenths back, with all drivers on the medium tyres.
Notably, George Russell was left down in eighth place after the first runs, over a second away from his team-mate, continuing a trend that shows Antonelli starting the weekend right on the pace, with Russell building up to it gradually.
FP2 red-flagged for gravel at the exit of Stavelot
The session was red flagged shortly after 10 minutes, as some gravel was thrown up on the exit of Stavelot, requiring marshals to get in and clean up the track.
The stoppage was relatively quick, with the cars going out on the circuit again just over five minutes later.
At the start of the second runs, Hadjar went straight to the top with a 1:46.714 on the soft tyres, before being swiftly replaced by his team-mate Max Verstappen and Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli, who set a 1:45.944, to smash the timesheets by nearly half-a-second.
Ferraris and Russell struggle compared to Antonelli in 2026 F1 Belgian GP FP2
The two Ferraris soon crossed the line, but nowhere near the front in terms of pace, with Hamilton slotting into third, but over seven tenths back from Antonelli’s benchmark, with his team-mate Charles Leclerc over a second away from the top, in fifth.
George Russell’s soft tyre run put the Briton in sixth place, a whopping over 1.2 seconds away from his team-mate, and even behind Franco Colapinto’s Alpine in fifth. He said over the radio his rear tyres felt “cold” and sliding, but “not 1.2 seconds cold”, showing the Mercedes driver was left bamboozled by the gap to the front.
Lando Norris set the fastest middle sector of the session in his lap, but couldn’t manage to topple Antonelli’s overall time, slotting into second, just under two tenths back.
Oscar Piastri’s first lap on the soft tyres out the Australian in sixth place, but nearly a full second away from the top.
After the qualifying simulations came to an end, the order of the top 10 was Antonelli, Norris, Verstappen, Hamilton, Hadjar, Piastri, Colapinto, Russell, Lindblad and Lawson.
Gasly loses his best time – and finds the barriers shortly after
Two notable absences from the top 10 were Charles Leclerc and Pierre Gasly, with the latter losing his lap that was good enough for ninth place due to a track limits violation coming out of Eau Rouge, before a massive shunt out of the Fagnes chicane, with the Frenchman losing the rear of his Alpine and veering away into the barriers front-first, before also hitting the rear of his A525 and completely destroying the rear corner of the car.
The Frenchman reported over the radio that he was “ok”, but was puzzled by what caused such a sudden snap, in a relatively slow part of the circuit.
The session was red-flagged as the marshals recovered the stricken Alpine and fix the tyre barriers at the entry of Stavelot/exit of Fagnes.
With just two minutes left in the clock, the pit lane opened for the drivers, as they headed out for practice starts on the grid, given the curved nature of the pit lane at Spa.
