Red Bull’s Max Verstappen finished the 2026 F1 Belgian GP in P3. This marked his third podium finish of the season.
Following the 2026 F1 Belgian GP, the four-time World Champion now sits P7 in the 2026 Drivers’ Standings with 91 points to his name.
It was a “straightforward” 2026 F1 Belgian GP weekend for Verstappen
The Dutch driver reflected on his performance at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps and said his race was somewhat compromised after the team failed to capitalise on the timing of a Virtual Safety Car (VSC).
The 28-year-old was the first of the frontrunners to pit for new tyres on lap 18. Unfortunately for Verstappen, a VSC was called just two laps later on lap 20 to clear track debris.
This allowed both Ferrari drivers to gain a significant advantage by pitting under the VSC. Leclerc had exited the pits ahead of both Verstappen and Antonelli. The latter was eventually able to retake the lead for the race win.
However, Verstappen instead had a lonely race as he was unable to partake in the battle with the top two drivers, but was also comfortably ahead of Hamilton in P4. Having looked strong on the mediums, the hard tyre stint saw him fall away from the top 2.
Nonetheless, Verstappen is pleased with his performance at the 2026 F1 Belgian GP and his podium finish.
“Yeah probably. I mean, but I think overall the weekend first was quite straightforward. The car was straight away in a decent window, so I think that just helps a lot, and I mean to be honest, today, yeah, okay, we got a little bit unlucky with the VSC.
“But I could have potentially maybe fought with Charles, but yeah, the second stint was just a little bit worse than I hoped for, I guess. The balance is not where I wanted it to be for a long time of that stint, so just lost too much time in the first half of that stint. But for us, I think to be on the podium here has been yeah, it’s been a good result.“
Verstappen’s momentary lead
In the opening lap of the 2026 F1 Belgian GP, Verstappen briefly took the lead after using battery out of turn 1. The Dutchman charged down to Eau Rouge past polesitter Antonelli. However, he would soon regret that decision after he was left vulnerable to the Italian’s counterattack. Verstappen then got overtaken by Leclerc’s Ferrari and dropped to P3.
“Yeah, well, clearly too much deployment from turn one to turn two and then I went through Eau Rouge. I looked at my battery status like, well, that’s going to be a difficult run to Les Combes. I expect, of course, Kimi to come by, and then I look in my mirror, and I just saw a red rocket coming, I was like, ‘oh, I’ll just hold my line because if I move here we’re gonna have an airplane shunt.’ So yeah, it was pretty incredible the difference.“
Impact of the rear wing switch
Ahead of the 2026 F1 Belgian GP, Verstappen’s RB22 was fitted with an older-specification rear wing. Red Bull was forced to use an older component as their upgraded rear wing caused the Dutchman to crash at both Austria and Silverstone. The switch back to the older one proved to be efficient, with Verstappen clinching P2 in Qualifying.
The 28-year-old reflected that while it was slower on the straights, he was more comfortable and stable in his RB22.
“Yeah, it performed well. I mean kept it on the road. I think the first thing, yeah, was just a little bit more competitive. The balance is a little bit better, but yeah, just struggled more on the hard. As simple as that.”
While Verstappen predicts that his Red Bull will theoretically continue to perform in Hungary on a less energy-starved track such as the Hungaroring, he also clarified that he could not predict how his RB22 will perform, especially with the tight and winding layout of the circuit.
“Honestly, yeah of course it’s nice to be, let’s say, less starved in Hungary. But I don’t know if that’s good or bad because at the end there are a lot of corners and you need good cornering performance with the car. Which is impossible to know how good we are going to be.”
Verstappen on his relationship with the pit wall
When questioned about a series of radio exchanges with his race engineer, Gianpiero Lambiase, during the 2026 F1 Belgian GP and asked if he was satisfied with the pit wall’s feedback during the race, Verstappen was quick to dismiss any narrative of frustration.
Instead, according to the Dutchman, the relentless pressure he puts on the engineers on the pit wall was just a mirror of the high standards Red Bull expects from him.
“Well, all the things that you mentioned they were not related to each other. So tyres were cold. Looking at the laptop was about other stuff. So yeah, I just like to keep people on their toes. I know that everyone is doing their best, but yeah, we are in F1 you know. So we have to keep, you know, being sharp at every time in the race, and I always demand the most and the best because that’s also what they expect from me.”
