FP2 Highlights | 2026 Belgian Grand Prix

Second practice in Spa, and Pierre Gasly collided with the barriers on the exit of Turn 30, bringing out the red flags. Yeah, left-hand switch, he lost it out of nowhere. Yeah, car going light, starts coming round at him, he's on the long run, and then managed to catch the moment, but the run-off is so minimal, isn't it? So he's just snagged the wall. After his pointless finish at Silverstone, Kimi Antonelli found his lead in the Drivers' Championship narrow slightly. The Italian teenager is just 25 points ahead of Mercedes teammate George Russell. But he had the Silver Arrows bragging right in FP2, his lap of 1'45.944, the best of the day. By contrast, George Russell had a poor session. Only P8 for the man in need of another big points overhaul this weekend. Lando Norris had a hairy moment at Turn 9, the defending champion fighting to keep his McLaren going in the right direction. But when he got it right, it was looking fighting fit. His time good enough for P2, but almost two tenths back from the leader. After suffering a hydraulic issue in FP1, teammate Oscar Piastri's car spent the first 20 minutes of the session up on the blocks, the engineers working frantically to correct the issue. He managed the fewest laps of anyone in FP2, finishing the session P6. More problems for Isaac Hadjar. In FP1, he felt his legs were too close to his steering wheel. This time, helmet issues for the Frenchman. I have the wrong visor on. OK, we'll get that changed after this run. Red Bull have confirmed that Hadjar is taking some new parts this weekend, enough to drop him to the very back of the grid for Sunday's Grand Prix. Teammate Max Verstappen put two wheels in the gravel at Turn 14. Spreading so many stones, the session had to be briefly red flagged. The four-time champ was unhappy with his RB22 setup. My God, **** shifts. Unbelievable, man. Why this ****? It's unacceptable, this. My God. Verstappen finished P3, Hadjar two places further back. Lewis Hamilton was P4, sandwiched between the Red Bulls. He had a bit of a moment at the chicane. The seven-time champ is very definitely on a roll, scoring 96 points over the last five races. That is more than any other driver. Five times a winner here. He has a good chance of making it half a dozen come Sunday, given that form. By contrast, Ferrari teammate Charles Leclerc didn't make it onto the first page of the timing sheets, P11, for his efforts this session. Racing Bulls have brought upgrades to Belgium, but just the one set. The team agreed that whoever qualified highest at Silverstone would get the new bits, and that was Arvid Lindblad. He was the faster of the pair in first practice, and again was quicker here, finishing P9, one place and more than a tenth better than teammate Leon Lawson, who at one point put a wheel in the gravel at Turn 9. Esteban Ocon reaches a marvellous milestone this weekend. The Frenchman celebrating ten years since his first race start in Formula 1 at this very circuit for the Banbury-based team, Manor Racing. Esteban lost in the Battle of the Hasses in this session. Oli Behrmann P12, Ocon P14. Carlos Sainz found traffic at Radillon. What Perez just did is super dangerous. He distilled it by people earlier. The alleged culprit, Sergio Perez, will have fond memories of Spa. The Cadillac Man holds the track lap record here, set in 2024 when he was a Red Bull driver. So it finished. Antonelli topped from Norris, Verstappen, Hamilton and Hadjar. Then came Piastri, Colopinto, Russell, Lindblad and Lawson. P11 for Leclerc, and he was followed by Behrmann, Bortoletto, Ocon, Albon, Sainz, Hülkenberg, Gasly, Bottas, Perez, Stroll and Alonso.