Max fastest in first free practice at Spa

Published on 17 July 2026 by Misha van der Kroon

Max Verstappen ended the first free practice session for the Belgian Grand Prix as fastest. At Spa-Francorchamps, the Dutchman set a 1:47.070 to finish ahead of Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc. Teammate Isack Hadjar ended the session in fourth, while Oscar Piastri completed the top five.

The first free practice session gets underway in dry conditions, with an air temperature of 24 degrees Celsius and the track warmed up to 41 degrees. Aston Martin junior Jack Crawford takes over Fernando Alonso’s car for the opening session. Max goes out on the medium tyres and sets a 1:49.307, just over three tenths slower than teammate Hadjar, who is running on the softs. With the two Oracle Red Bull Racing drivers on different compounds, they trade fastest times during the opening stages. At the halfway mark, Hadjar leads the way by eight hundredths of a second. This weekend, Red Bull has reverted to its previous rear wing specification after abandoning the so-called "Macarena" wing, which caused two crashes for Max earlier this season.

Lando Norris has a difficult start to the weekend. The British driver is the last one to leave the pit lane, completes less than a full lap before returning straight to the garage and, on top of that, faces a ten-place grid penalty after taking a new power unit. It is only halfway through the session that he completes his first flying lap, which leaves him no higher than eleventh.

As the session progresses, more and more drivers switch to the soft compound. Kimi Antonelli moves to the top of the timesheets with a 1:47.603, while Mercedes teammate George Russell is six tenths adrift. Shortly afterwards, Hadjar goes fastest with a lap almost three tenths quicker. Max then shows that there is even more pace to come, reclaiming the top spot with a 1:47.070. With around twenty minutes remaining, after everyone has completed a lap on the soft tyres, the top five is as follows: Verstappen, Hadjar, Leclerc, Antonelli and Hamilton.

The Ferrari drivers then split the two Red Bulls, with Hamilton finishing just over a tenth behind Max. Piastri moves into the top five, while teammate Norris improves to seventh. With fifteen minutes remaining, lap times stabilise as most teams switch their focus to long-run programmes. In the last minute of this session, Piastri is instructed to stop his McLaren by the side of the track. Moments later, however, he is told to bring the car slowly back to the pits, although the team warns him of a possible hydraulic pressure issue. No further improvements are made, leaving Max to finish the first free practice session fastest, ahead of Hamilton and Leclerc. Hadjar and Piastri complete the top five.

Results first free practice Belgium: