STAR FORMULA 1 PREVIEW: Belgian Grand Prix 2026

Formula 1 heads to one of its most spectacular and historic venues this weekend as Spa-Francorchamps hosts the 2026 Belgian Grand Prix.

The Drivers Championship looks more interesting now than it has done for a while, with a mixture of bad luck for Kimi Antonelli, a resurgent Lewis Hamilton and a win and second place for George Russell bringing the top contenders closer. With just two rounds left before the summer break, finishing strongly will be crucial for championship hopes, writes WILLIAM KEDJANYI.

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2026 Moët & Chandon Belgian Grand Prix
Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, Stavelot, Belgium
All coverage live on Sky Sports F1, Sky Go & NOW – times in BST
1️⃣ Practice One: 12.30pm Friday
1️⃣ Practice Two: 4pm Friday
1️⃣ Practice Three: 11.30am Saturday
⏰ Qualifying: 3pm Saturday
🏆 Race: 2pm Sunday

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The Story from Silverstone

Charles Leclerc became the fourth different winner of the 2026 season after a dramatic British Grand Prix in which Kimi Antonelli’s apparent route to another victory disappeared through mechanical trouble.

Antonelli had looked the class of the field for much of the weekend. The championship leader chased down Lewis Hamilton to win Saturday’s Sprint, then took pole position for the Grand Prix. His Sunday began badly, however, as both Ferraris passed him at the start. Leclerc led Hamilton while Antonelli recovered to overtake the seven-time World Champion at Copse on lap 11 and set off after the leading Ferrari.

Leclerc stopped on lap 26, while Mercedes extended Antonelli’s first stint until lap 36. The Italian emerged on fresher tyres and rapidly reduced the gap, only for a left-front wheel-shield failure to ruin his challenge. Two further pit stops and a track-limits penalty left Antonelli out of the points, reducing his championship advantage over George Russell to 25 points.

Leclerc held on for his first victory of the season and the ninth of his Formula 1 career. Russell inherited second after Max Verstappen crashed at Stowe with four laps remaining and triggered a Safety Car, while Hamilton completed the podium after making a late stop. Lando Norris finished fourth on a difficult weekend for McLaren, with Isack Hadjar fifth ahead of Liam Lawson and Arvid Lindblad.

Silverstone therefore delivered a badly needed breakthrough for Ferrari, but it also underlined how open the competitive picture has become. Mercedes had the fastest driver for much of the weekend, Ferrari converted its opportunity, Red Bull again suffered a worrying high-speed rear-wing problem and McLaren lacked the pace to fight at the front.

1. Charles Leclerc (🇲🇨 Ferrari) – 52 laps, 1:27:11.335 – 25 pts
2. George Russell (🇬🇧 Mercedes) – +0.427s – 18 pts
3. Lewis Hamilton (🇬🇧 Ferrari) – +0.772s – 15 pts
4. Lando Norris (🇬🇧 McLaren) – +1.149s – 12 pts
5. Isack Hadjar (🇫🇷 Red Bull Racing) – +1.598s – 10 pts
6. Liam Lawson (🇳🇿 Racing Bulls) – +2.023s – 8 pts
7. Arvid Lindblad (🇬🇧 Racing Bulls) – +2.214s – 6 pts
8. Gabriel Bortoleto (🇧🇷 Audi) – +2.413s – 4 pts
9. Franco Colapinto (🇦🇷 Alpine) – +3.229s – 2 pts
10. Pierre Gasly (🇫🇷 Alpine) – +3.445s – 1 pt

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Race Winners/Pole Sitters:

🇦🇺 Australia – George Russell (Win & Pole)
🇨🇳 China – Kimi Antonelli (Win & Pole)
🇯🇵 Japan – Kimi Antonelli (Win & Pole)
🇺🇸 Miami – Kimi Antonelli (Win & Pole)
🇨🇦 Canada – Kimi Antonelli Win (George Russell Pole)
🇲🇨 Monaco – Kimi Antonelli (Win & Pole)
🇪🇸 Barcelona-Catalunya – Lewis Hamilton Win (George Russell Pole)
🇦🇹 Austria – George Russell (Win & Pole)
🇬🇧 Great Britain – Charles Leclerc Win (Kimi Antonelli Pole)

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Standings 📊

Driver / Car / Points:

1. Kimi Antonelli 🇮🇹 (Mercedes) – 179 points
2. George Russell 🇬🇧 (Mercedes) – 154 points
3. Lewis Hamilton 🇬🇧 (Ferrari) – 147 points
4. Charles Leclerc 🇲🇨 (Ferrari) – 108 points
5. Lando Norris 🇬🇧 (McLaren) – 97 points
6. Oscar Piastri 🇦🇺 (McLaren) – 82 points
7. Max Verstappen 🇳🇱 (Red Bull Racing) – 76 points
8. Isack Hadjar 🇫🇷 (Red Bull Racing) – 52 points
9. Pierre Gasly 🇫🇷 (Alpine) – 42 points
10. Liam Lawson 🇳🇿 (Racing Bulls) – 39 points
11. Arvid Lindblad 🇬🇧 (Racing Bulls) – 20 points
12. Oliver Bearman 🇬🇧 (Haas) – 18 points
13. Franco Colapinto 🇦🇷 (Alpine) – 18 points
14. Gabriel Bortoleto 🇧🇷 (Audi) – 6 points
15. Carlos Sainz 🇪🇸 (Williams) – 6 points
16. Alexander Albon 🇹🇭 (Williams) – 5 points
17. Esteban Ocon 🇫🇷 (Haas) – 3 points
18. Fernando Alonso 🇪🇸 (Aston Martin) – 1 point
19. Nico Hülkenberg 🇩🇪 (Audi) – 0 points
20. Valtteri Bottas 🇫🇮 (Cadillac) – 0 points
21. Sergio Pérez 🇲🇽 (Cadillac) – 0 points
22. Lance Stroll 🇨🇦 (Aston Martin) – 0 points

🏎️ Constructors:

⚪ Mercedes – 333 pts (7 wins, 12 podiums, 19 Top 10 finishes)
🔴 Ferrari – 255 pts (2 wins, 8 podiums, 19 Top 10 finishes)
🟠 McLaren – 179 pts (4 podiums, 18 Top 10 finishes)
🔵 Red Bull – 128 pts (2 podiums, 17 Top 10 finishes)
🔷 Alpine – 60 pts (1 podium, 12 Top 10 finishes)
⚫ Racing Bulls – 59 pts (14 Top 10 finishes)
🟡 Haas – 21 pts (6 Top 10 finishes)
🔵 Williams – 11 pts (4 Top 10 finishes)
🟢 Audi – 6 pts (2 Top 10 finishes)
🟢 Aston Martin – 1 pt (1 Top 10 finish)
⚪ Cadillac – 0 pts

Standings correct after the British Grand Prix.

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Track Guide 🚦

• Track length: 7.004km (4.352 miles)
• Race distance: 44 laps / 308.054km (191.415 miles)
• Main straight: Kemmel Straight – approximately 1.05km (0.65 miles)
• Number of turns: 19 (nine left-hand corners and ten right-hand corners)
• First Grand Prix: 1950

At 7.004 kilometres, Spa-Francorchamps is the longest circuit on the Formula 1 calendar and one of its greatest tests. The lap combines flat-out straights, enormous elevation change, high-speed commitment and several heavy braking zones, leaving teams with a familiar compromise between cornering performance and straight-line speed.

The lap begins at La Source, a tight first-gear hairpin which regularly produces contact on the opening lap but also gives drivers a chance to attack under braking. A clean exit is crucial because the circuit then drops through Eau Rouge before climbing steeply through Raidillon and onto the Kemmel Straight. Cars running lower downforce can gain significantly here, while a well-timed slipstream creates the clearest overtaking opportunity into Les Combes.

The middle sector is the technical heart of Spa. Cars descend through Bruxelles and the off-camber left-hander at No Name before reaching Pouhon, the daunting double-left which rewards aerodynamic stability and driver confidence. The Fagnes sequence and Stavelot then punish any car which lacks balance through long, loaded corners.

From Stavelot the drivers accelerate through Courbe Paul Frère and the fearsomely quick Blanchimont before braking hard for the Bus Stop chicane. That final sector gives another passing chance, but it also makes the exit from Stavelot vital: any mistake can cost speed for a substantial part of the lap.

Spa is the longest circuit on the Formula 1 calendar and its scale can create sharply different conditions around the lap. Weather, tyre temperature and confidence through the high-speed sections can all change the competitive order.

The traditional set-up dilemma is whether to carry enough wing for the demanding middle sector or trim the car out for Kemmel and the long run back from Stavelot. Lower downforce helps qualifying position, overtaking and defence, but can increase sliding and tyre stress through Pouhon and Fagnes. That compromise should be especially important under Formula 1’s new regulations.

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How The 2026 Cars Will Change Spa ⚡

Spa may provide the most revealing test yet of Formula 1’s new power-unit and active-aerodynamics regulations. The 2026 cars have far more electrical power available than their predecessors, but they cannot deploy it at its maximum level for an entire lap. At Spa, the combination of the circuit’s length and its power-hungry first and third sectors makes that limitation particularly severe.

The most efficient approach is expected to be using the battery on the main straights, especially the climb from La Source through Eau Rouge and Raidillon, the Kemmel Straight and the run from Stavelot towards the Bus Stop. The consequence is that drivers may have little or no electrical deployment left for much of sector two, from Les Combes to Stavelot.

That could fundamentally alter the character of the middle sector. Fernando Alonso has warned that the cars will have substantially less power once deployment ends, while Max Verstappen described Spa as likely to be “painful” because of the energy demands. Pouhon is a particularly interesting case: instead of being approached solely as one of the season’s great high-speed commitment corners, it may also become a place where drivers harvest energy.

Active aerodynamics offers some compensation. Because the cars can reduce drag on the straights, teams may be able to carry more downforce for sector two without paying the same top-speed penalty as before. Five straight-mode zones are available around the lap, including two on the high-speed run from Stavelot to the Bus Stop, separated by Blanchimont.

The FIA has also reduced the qualifying energy-harvest requirement from the originally planned 8MJ to 7MJ. That should limit the amount of conspicuous lifting or forced harvesting on a qualifying lap, although pole position is still expected to be several seconds slower than in 2025. The race limit rises to 8.5MJ, meaning energy saving should be more visible on Sunday.

This creates the possibility of “yo-yo” racing. One driver may spend electrical energy to attack on Kemmel, only to become vulnerable later in the lap after depleting the battery. Drivers who deploy too aggressively could lose heavily before the Bus Stop, while those who save energy may be able to counterattack. Spa will therefore test not only outright performance, but also each team’s software, power-unit efficiency and ability to manage energy tactically over a 7km lap.

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Weather 🌥️

Friday – Practice One and Practice Two:
Friday is expected to be the most unsettled day of the weekend, with temperatures rising from 14°C in the morning to a high of 25°C. There is a 40% chance of moderate showers and embedded thunderstorms. The rain should be hit-and-miss, but any thunderstorm could bring a heavy downpour lasting between 30 and 60 minutes. Winds will average 12km/h with gusts of up to 35km/h, while sunny intervals between the showers could push track temperatures into the mid-40s.

Maximum temperature: 25°C
Minimum temperature: 14°C
Chance of rain: 40%

Saturday – Practice Three and Qualifying:
Saturday should bring a mixture of cloud and sunshine, with temperatures climbing from 10°C to 21°C. There is a small risk of morning fog, although any that develops should clear before 9am. The chance of rain falls to 20%, with most showers expected to remain to the south and east of the circuit. North-westerly winds will average 14km/h and may gust to 35km/h. Increasing cloud cover should keep track temperatures in the upper 30s and provide relatively stable conditions for qualifying.

Maximum temperature: 21°C
Minimum temperature: 10°C
Chance of rain: 20%

Sunday – Race:
Race day is forecast to be cooler and mainly dry, with a low of 8°C and a high of 19°C. Morning fog is again possible but should clear before 9am. Although weather fronts are expected to move through during the morning and afternoon, the air mass should be too dry to produce significant rain. Winds will average 13km/h with gusts potentially reaching 40km/h, while the track temperature is expected to peak in the low 30s. The present forecast is favourable for a dry race.

Maximum temperature: 19°C
Minimum temperature: 8°C
Chance of rain: 10%

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Race Verdict 🏁

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Championship leader Kimi Antonelli is winless in three races, although this has nothing to do with driver form – he suffered an engine fault when set for P2 in Spain, and was firmly on course for victory at Silverstone when hitting a serrated kerb destroyed his wheel-shield, killing the car’s downforce and robbing him of points. In Austria, when third behind Russell and Verstappen, he was unlucky to miss out on a front-row start in qualifying as Verstappen’s crash hampered him on his flying lap, and then after a messy opening 5 laps, he was clearly the fastest driver on track in the race, for all that Russell was managing his tyres through the grand prix.

Russell’s results have improved, with welcome doses of good luck and a better weekend in Austria, although he was the slower of the Mercedes drivers in Barcelona and had struggled badly at Silverstone before ending up in P2 due to retirements and Ferrari’s late call to put Hamilton onto fresh tyres before a race that ended behind the safety car.

Russell is struggling to adapt his driving style to the new generation of cars (which have lower downforce than the ground effect era), admitting that it will take time for him to find what has naturally come to Antonelli. It’s going to take more time for him to change a style of braking that keeps the platform of the car stable and then allows a strong exit, which should give Antonelli a pace advantage until at least the summer break. There’s also the issues of energy deployment that Russell seems to have – he struggled with straight-line speed at Silverstone in comparison to even other cars at times and will need that to be rectified very soon if he’s to close the gap.

Around a track like Spa, with five straight zones and two sectors taken mainly at full throttle, the Mercedes should once again be clearly the fastest car and if he gets a clear weekend, then the Italian is the clear pick with 7/5 making strong appeal with starsports.bet. Antonelli has had the fastest lap in six grand prix so far, including Silverstone, so the 5/2 on him to take the race win and the fastest lap, and the 11/2 for the Fastest Qualifier + Race Winner + Fastest Lap treble is worth a small interest too.

Ferrari beat their pre-race expectations at Silverstone, where they were expected to lose out to Mercedes on a power level basis, with both Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc showing excellent pace to challenge Antonelli, although Leclerc was fortunate that the championship leader suffered his mechanical issue when he did whilst Hamilton couldn’t live with Antonelli in the sprint. Hopes will be high that they can challenge again but this track is even more demanding on energy and straight-line speed so it may be that more podiums is the limit of their ability this weekend.

Elsewhere, Red Bull had a poor weekend in Silverstone compared with Austria, where the upgrades they bought had Verstappen fighting Mercedes. After crashes for Max Verstappen in Austria and Silverstone, Red Bull has decided to revert back to their previous rear wing, but poor handling and deployment issues had already caused issues for him all weekend. That said, he was in third before crashing out late on there and he adores Spa. Practice sessions will tell us more about the shape of their pace, although they should be comforted by the fact that Isack Hadjar – who starts from the back of the grid after changing multiple power components – has looked very comfortable in the car. Given the gap between the top four teams and the rest of the grid, he will be of interest for a points finish or maybe higher on raceday.

With Hadjar and Lando Norris taking grid penalties, there will be more space towards the head of affairs in the early stages and that’s yet more news for Racing Bulls, who enjoyed their third straight double points finish at Silverstone. Both Arvid Lindblad and Liam Lawson are loving life at the moment and 11/10 on them doing so again is perfectly fair with two more top ten spots open for good qualifying.

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PROFIT/LOSS (JULY 2026): PROFIT -12.71 points

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