F1 update – Belgian GP

Round 10 of the 2026 Formula 1 World Championship was held in the Ardennes forest of Eastern Belgium at the Spa Francochamps Circuit in Spa, Belgium for the Belgian Grand Prix.

Mercedes got back to winning ways as their driver Andrea ‘Kimi’ Antonelli picked up his sixth victory of the year finishing of Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc who took second with Red Bull’s Max Verstappen completing the podium by finishing third.

Belgian GP – top 5:

• 1st: Andrea ‘Kimi’ Antonelli – Mercedes
• 2nd: Charles Leclerc – Ferrari
• 3rd: Max Verstappen – Red Bull
• 4th: Sir Lewis Hamilton – Ferrari
• 5th: Oscar Piastri – McLaren

Other highlights:

• Mercedes driver George Russell retired on the opening lap of the race after colliding with Ferrari’s Sir Lewis Hamilton at Les Combe, Hamilton was given a 5 second time penalty for the incident and the safety car was deployed.
• Ferrari’s Sir Lewis Hamilton had a slow pitstop which on his way out he accidently hit his own mechanic, Hamilton escaped a penalty for the incident as it was a team error.
• Red Bull’s Isack Hadjar drove a fantastic race from twenty-first on the grid to finish in sixth.
• McLaren’s Lando Norris finished the race in seventh after starting thirteenth on the grid.
• Cadillac’s Sergio Perez would retire from the race on lap 14 with suspension failure.
• Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll would retire from the race on lap 26 with gearbox problems.
• Alpine’s Franco Colapinto pulled off what was the move of the race whilst his Alpine team mate Pierre Gasly and Racing Bull’s driver Liam Lawson were fighting for tenth as he overtook both of them in one move.

News:

• Ferrari took part in a video shoot around the new Madring Circuit in Madrid, Spain ahead of the Spanish Grand Prix that is taking place later this year.
• Ferrari were given a 30,000 euro fine with 10,000 euro suspended after they fitted the wrong tyres on both Charles Leclerc and Sir Lewis Hamilton’s cars during practice for the Belgian Grand Prix.
• Red Bull’s Max Verstappen will have a new race engineer in 2027 as his current race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase is to leave the team at the end of the year to join McLaren. Verstappen’s new race engineer from 2027 will be Tom Hart.
• McLaren will be introducing a new rear wing for the Hungarian Grand Prix.

The next round of the 2026 Formula 1 World Championship will be held at the Hungaroring Circuit in Budapest, Hungary for the Hungarian Grand Prix.

Here’s Aston and regular contributor Cameron Perkins with the latest from the world of Formula 1.