16:25
Russell remains on medium tyres, completing a longer run before fitting the softs and pinning a qualifying simulation. He's in 10th place at the moment.
Piastri has jumped from the back to P8 with his first effort.
Verstappen at Spa
© XPB Images
F1 Belgian GP LIVE: Antonelli tops FP2 after heavy crash for Gasly
Live coverage of Friday at the F1 Belgian Grand Prix
KEY MOMENTS
- Norris, Hadjar and Stroll take grid penalties
- Red Bull ditch 'Macarena' wing after Verstappen crash
- Verstappen fastest in FP1
The tenth round of the 2026 Formula 1 season takes place at the Belgian Grand Prix.
One of the most famous tracks on the F1 calendar, Spa-Francorchamps has played host to some truly iconic moments.
As ever, teams have brought a number of updates to the track, with McLaren bringing a new rear wing to test on Friday, making use of the long Kemmel Straight for data gathering. This wing, however, is understood not to be McLaren's 'Macarena' wing, which was taken to Austria but not used.
After Max Verstappen's crash at Silverstone, Red Bull has also elected to bring a more conventional wing to Belgium. In the wake of his off, the Dutchman branded the wing "super-dangerous", with Red Bull committing to a full investigation into the underlying problem.
Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff has warned that the Silver Arrows must fix their reliability woes, with Ferrari now breathing down the neck of points-leader Kimi Antonelli after taking two wins from the last three weekends.
Finally, with the new Mercedes power unit, Lando Norris will take a 10-place grid penalty on Sunday, after also taking power electronics, his fourth set of the season. This exceeded the maximum of three permitted to complete the campaign.
2026 Belgian Grand Prix Friday schedule
FP1 12:30pm BST - 1:30pm BST
FP2: 4:00pm BST - 5:00pm BST
17 Jul 2026
16:23
Verstappen moves to the top, but is then pushed down by Antonelli with a 1m45.944s. Antonelli found a second on the soft tyres. He is 0.472s clear of anyone!
16:22
On soft tyres, Hadjar moves to the top with a 1m46.714s, but Antonelli and Verstappen are both going purple.
16:20
Out comes Piastri. 19 minutes after the session began, he lost his first run, but that could have been a lot worse.
16:18
Green flag
Back out onto the track, and some soft tyres are beginning to appear.
16:14
Darth Toto returns
Toto Wolff in the rain. Always a highlight!
16:14
Removing the expletives, Verstappen has described his gearshifts as "unacceptable". If you wanted the full message, I feel the star key on my keyboard would be worn out.
Safe to say, he's not happy.
16:13
Red flag
This will help Piastri. The clock continues to tick down, but other drivers will be losing time too.
Gravel has been kicked onto the track at Stavelot.
16:10
A 1m47.051s from Antonelli on his second run. He was purple in sectors one and two, but lost all the time in the final sector. Lindblad, Hamilton and Leclerc improve on their latest efforts, going fourth, fifth and sixth.
16:09
It looks like there could be some positive news for Piastri soon, as he stands with his helmet on, preparing to get going.
16:07
Hadjar and Verstappen also go below the 1m47s marker, with Leclerc around six-tenths back. Russell is also a second off Antonelli.
On the medium tyres, that seems like quite a special lap from the Italian.
16:05
With his first FP2 lap, Antonelli puts in the fastest time of the week, with a 1m46.911s!
16:03
Medium tyres all around for the first stints in FP2.
16:02
The drivers will be hoping for no more of this, but us as fans, however...
16:00
Green light for FP2
FP2 begins. Bottas and Russell are the first drivers out onto the track.
15:59
Bad news for Piastri, who looks like he will have a lengthy wait for his session to begin, with McLaren still working hard to fix the hydraulic problem that put an end to his FP1 running.
15:58
In case you were wondering, there is a 10% chance of rain in FP2. The kerbs are slightly damp still, but the rest of the track is dry. There will be caution needed during the opening laps, though, just to avoid any silly accidents.
15:57
How Racing Bulls settled which driver got its big F1 Belgian GP upgrade
But before we get going, there are many ways to decide which driver will get the upgrade when only one package is available.
We must confess that this method from Racing Bulls is a new one to us, but we are certainly fans of the plan.
Lindblad has got first dibs on the new Racing Bulls package
15:55
The music has played, and here we go for one last time today. Not all questions will be answered, but we'll get a far clearer picture of what is going on across the coming hour.
15:46
15 minutes remain before the lights go green at Spa.
15:40
With F2 qualifying over, now we prepare for F1 once more. The sun is shining once again - typical! - and Mercedes will attempt to find a response to Verstappen's early pace.
Also, Aston Martin will be keen to close the three-second gap to lead Cadillac driver, Sergio Perez.
15:32
Back to the weather - does it show we're British? - and the rain has now comnpletely cleared.
15:28
Another red flag in F2 qualifying, and the session will likely end with 3:26 on the clock.
15:22
Mercedes take time out between the on-track sessions to sign autographs for fans and appear on the stage. The driving must feel like a small part of the job sometimes, but these are the moments that make memories for so many people.
15:10
But for now, we're into the final 20 minutes of F2 qualifying on a drying track. Medium-intensity rain fell during F3 qualifying, and while there are still spots around the track, the asphalt is largely dry. The kerbs need a little bit of added respect for the moment, however.