Antonelli Outpaces Rivals at Belgian GP Practice

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Mercedes Performance: Kimi Antonelli’s Breakthrough and George Russell’s Struggle

Kimi Antonelli emerged as the standout performer for Mercedes on Friday, topping the timesheets in the second practice session. The rookie’s performance marked a significant turnaround from a difficult opening practice.

“It was a messy first session where we didn’t have the car in the right place, we thought there’d be a bit more grip than there was – but it looks like other people pitched theirs a bit better. But then we had a chance between sessions to reposition it all and drivers were a lot happier with the car in the afternoon.”

Andrew Shovlin, Mercedes trackside engineering director, via The Race

While Antonelli excelled, teammate George Russell struggled throughout the day. Russell finished three-tenths behind Antonelli in FP1—a session hindered by power unit issues—and lagged 1.285 seconds off the pace in FP2.

Pierre Gasly’s FP2 Crash and Alpine’s Recovery Efforts

Alpine’s day ended on a difficult note when Pierre Gasly lost control at Turn 13 with 15 minutes remaining in FP2. The car skated through the gravel and struck the barrier, causing severe damage to the rear wing and bodywork.

“Pierre is fine, the car is not fine. We were changing the PU on that car tonight anyway, so while it’s quite a long jobs list for the mechanics, half of it we were already doing. No problem to be ready for tomorrow.”

Steve Nielsen, Alpine Managing Director, via Formula 1

Despite the crash, Alpine showed promise. Franco Colapinto, driving for the team, secured seventh place in FP2, outpacing several established drivers. Gasly remained optimistic about the setup work completed before the incident, stating, A lot of different parts tried across both cars, so now we just need to weigh what is good, what is the better of all these settings, and try to put it all together for tomorrow.

McLaren and Red Bull: Grid Penalties and Technical Hurdles

McLaren enters the weekend with a strategic challenge. Lando Norris, who finished second in FP2, is set to serve a 10-place grid penalty on Sunday for using a new battery. According to the team, Norris focused on a specialized program to maximize performance despite the impending drop. Teammate Oscar Piastri also dealt with a hydraulics leak during FP1, which forced the team to swap his gearbox and limited his track time.

Red Bull’s Max Verstappen topped the first practice session—his first time leading a session in 2026—before finishing third in the afternoon. Verstappen expressed confidence in the car’s performance window but acknowledged the gap to the competition. The car has been in a good window. Probably in FP2 you see a little bit more of the real gap still, but that’s nothing shocking, just expected, Verstappen said.

Aston Martin’s Outlook at Spa-Francorchamps

Aston Martin remains at the back of the pack as it awaits a B-spec car upgrade. Team representative Mike Krack confirmed that both drivers are aware of the team’s current limitations, with both cars finishing over five seconds off the pace throughout Friday. Krack noted, We need to be realistic. We are quite far off. The positions you gain are from attrition, but there’s nothing to fight for in terms of result. The team is now focused on executing a clean race weekend while managing expectations until the new car arrives.