Max Verstappen Stuns Ferrari to Lead Belgian GP FP1

Max Verstappen surprisingly led first practice for the 2026 Belgian Grand Prix after setting a time of 1 minute 47.070 seconds at Spa-Francorchamps.

The Red Bull Racing driver finished 0.145 seconds ahead of Lewis Hamilton, while Charles Leclerc took third at a deficit of 0.207 seconds. It marked the first time this season that neither Mercedes nor Ferrari had led an FP1 session.

Verstappen’s pace came as a surprise because Red Bull entered the weekend expecting a performance deficit after shelving the rotating rear wing previously used in Austria and Britain. The team reverted to its original specification after the component was linked to two Verstappen crashes.

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Isack Hadjar also demonstrated Red Bull’s pace by finishing fourth, only a quarter of a second behind his team-mate. Hadjar briefly led during the early phase on soft tyres before Verstappen returned to the top as most of the field switched to the same compound.

Lewis Hamilton and Leclerc gradually reduced the deficit during the closing stages. Hamilton ultimately split the two Red Bulls on the timesheets, while Leclerc moved into third to place both Ferrari cars inside the top three.

Kimi Antonelli briefly moved ahead on soft tyres but dropped to sixth after Verstappen and the Ferrari drivers improved. George Russell finished seventh, ahead of Lando Norris, who completed only two installation laps in the opening phase before ending the session eighth.

Oscar Piastri finished fifth but had to crawl back to the pits with a hydraulic pressure problem that will be investigated before FP2. Jak Crawford, replacing Fernando Alonso for the session, ended at the bottom of the standings more than six seconds behind Verstappen.

The FP1 result provided an early indication that Red Bull’s conventional rear-wing configuration can still deliver competitive pace at Spa. A clearer performance picture will emerge in FP2 through the race simulations and the assessment of Piastri’s hydraulic issue.