Belgian GP FP1 Results: Full Practice Times from Spa

Max Verstappen set the pace in FP1 at the 2026 Belgian GP, leading the two Ferrari drivers in an encouraging opening session for Red Bull Racing at Spa-Francorchamps.

Verstappen produced a fastest time of 1:47.070 to finish 0.145 seconds ahead of Lewis Hamilton, with Charles Leclerc third and only 0.207 seconds away from the benchmark.

Isack Hadjar completed an impressive session for Red Bull Racing in fourth, just over a quarter of a second behind his teammate, despite heading into the weekend with a major power unit grid penalty.

Oscar Piastri was fifth for McLaren, although his session ended with a hydraulic problem that left him briefly stopped on track. Championship leader Kimi Antonelli was sixth for Mercedes.

Below is the full classification from Practice 1 at the 2026 Belgian GP.

2026 Belgian GP FP1 results

Here are the complete Practice 1 results from Spa-Francorchamps.

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Verstappen gives Red Bull Racing early advantage

Verstappen began the session on the medium tyre and was already setting the pace before the soft tyre qualifying simulations began. Once the C4 compound went on, the Dutchman lowered the benchmark to 1:47.070 and remained at the top for the rest of the hour.

The lap underlined Red Bull Racing’s strength through the high-downforce middle sector, where Verstappen was particularly quick. Spa requires teams to compromise between straight-line speed in the first and final sectors and downforce through the flowing central part of the lap, and the Red Bull Racing package appeared well balanced across both demands.

Hadjar backed up that performance by finishing fourth, only 0.252 seconds behind Verstappen. It was a strong opening despite the Frenchman preparing to serve a substantial grid penalty after taking several new power unit components.

The penalty will complicate Hadjar’s weekend, but his FP1 pace suggested he could still play an important role in the race if he can work his way through the field.

Hamilton leads strong Ferrari start

Ferrari entered the weekend uncertain about whether Spa’s long straights would expose weaknesses in its car, but FP1 offered plenty of encouragement.

Hamilton initially encountered traffic on his first soft tyre run and was more than six tenths off the pace, but he found a cleaner lap later in the session and climbed to second, just 0.145 seconds behind Verstappen.

The seven-time world champion has five victories and six pole positions at Spa, and his confidence around the circuit was evident as he extracted more performance from the tyre on his second attempt.

Leclerc was close behind in third, only 0.062 seconds slower than his teammate. Both Ferrari drivers have arrived in Belgium in strong form after the team won two of the previous three Grands Prix, and the opening practice session suggested that momentum could continue.

The gaps across the top four were small for a circuit of Spa’s length, leaving Ferrari firmly in contention heading into FP2.

Mercedes yet to show full pace

Mercedes entered the weekend as one of the expected favourites, but neither car featured inside the top five in FP1.

Antonelli briefly went fastest when the soft tyres first appeared, setting a 1:47.603, before the Red Bull Racing drivers and Ferraris moved ahead. He eventually finished sixth, 0.533 seconds off Verstappen, after an earlier run was disrupted by traffic from Carlos Sainz.

The championship leader voiced his frustration over the radio after encountering the slow-moving Williams on the racing line. Sainz was also due to be investigated after the session for crossing the line at pit entry.

George Russell finished eighth, 0.889 seconds away from the fastest time. He set the quickest opening sector on one lap but lost substantial time through the final part of the circuit, raising the possibility that Mercedes had not shown its complete performance.

With Antonelli’s championship advantage cut to 25 points following two non-scores in three races, a clean Belgian GP weekend is essential for the Italian.

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