Round ten brings F1 across The Channel to southwest Belgium and one of the drivers’ favourites, Spa in the middle of the Ardennes Forest. The 4.352-mile circuit is the longest of the season and demands everything from drivers, cars and the teams as the longest circuit of the season, with varying weather and the nature of grass and gravel.
A high-speed, roller-coaster ride through the Arden Forrest has created many memorable races as well as tragedies. It’s a demanding circuit and often said the race is about driver v car v the Arden Forest; anything can happen, and this circuit punishes any mistake and rewards the brave.
Drivers who attack the circuit can be rewarded, but if they get it wrong, they can crash or lose position. Overtaking at Spa is easier with hard braking zones at the end of the straights. The cars also need to be good in a straight line as they can see them pass in the braking zones in the first sector.
The short run from the grid to La Source and up at Les Combes/Malmedy on the opening lap are common sites of accidents. As the cars bunch up through Turn One, crashes can happen, famously in 1998 when the race was stopped after an accident involving thirteen of the twenty-two runners at the first corner.
Les Combes is the scene of several retirements on the opening lap in 2009 and 2013, both involving Romain Grosjean, in different places. In 2009, Grosjean, after going into the back of Jenson Button, as Hamilton backed off, Jaime Alguersuari ran into him; both crashed into the barrier and retired.
In 2013, after going around La Source, the Frenchman squeezed himself between the wall and Hamilton, and when they touched, they both lost control. The chain reaction sent Hamilton into the back of Kami Kobayashi and Alonso, while Sergio Perez knocked Pastor Maldonado into a spin
Spa held its first Grand Prix, on a roughly double the length 14.982km or 9.310-mile original circuit in 1925. Its origins, however, date back to the end of WWI when the German forces were based in Spa before its unification in 1925 with Malmedy. A newspaper owner decided to have a race on the borders between Spa, Malmedy and Stavelot.
Spa was one of the circuits which featured in the first season of the championship, dominated by the Alfa Romeos of Argentine Juan Manuel Fangio and Italian Nino Farina. Their closest challenger, Alberto Ascari, ran into fuel problems and fell back. The race was won by Fangio, and Farina won the next year’s race in his works Alfa after Fangio dropped back with hub problems.
1955 saw Mercedes dominate; Fangio and teammate Stirling Moss led the race distance. Moss followed Fangio closely for most of the race; the Argentine took victory as he had the year before in a Maserati. 1956 saw a wet race, with Moss in a Maserati leading, and Fangio, now driving for Ferrari, made a bad start and dropped to fifth at the start, although he got up to second behind Moss. The track was drying, and Moss lost a wheel at Raidillon corner. He did not hit anything and went back to take over his teammate Cesare Perdisa’s car and was able to finish 3rd. The gearbox in Fangio’s car broke, and his teammate Peter Collins won the race.
1960 race is one of the darkest weekends in sports history, along with Imola in 1994, it is one of two occasions in which two driver fatalities have occurred at a Formula One race meeting, and the only one where both occurred during the race itself. 1961 saw Ferrari make use of their superior horsepower, romping home 1–2–3–4, with Phil Hill winning. 1962 saw Clark win his first race, going on to win the next three Belgian Grands Prix. 1963 was a rain-soaked race with Clark finishing 4.5 minutes in front of second-placed Bruce McLaren.
1967 Eagle took their only win after Mike Parkes crashed heavily at 150 mph at Blanchimont after slipping on some oil that had dropped off of Jackie Stewart’s BRM. After his car hit and climbed up an embankment, the works Ferrari driver was thrown out of his car, receiving serious leg and head injuries.
F1 left Spa following 1970 as the GPDA deemed the circuit too dangerous, prompting a boycott by the British, French and Italians, prompting the race to be moved to Zolder, originally alternating with Nielles, but after two races, the street circuit near Brussels became unviable.
The first race at Zolder was won by Emerson Fittipaldi, followed by Jackie Stewart, though the circuit alternated with Nivelles near the capital, Brussels, the circuit was unpopular with drivers, teams and fans, so Zolder would become the home of the race from 1975 until the return to Spa in 1983 and permanently from 1985.
Though the shorter Spa has been continued to be modified over the years he circuit half its original length, the challenges of the Arden Forest never change. Nigel Mansell dominated the 1986 event, and he and Senna took each other out the following year when Mansell attempted to pass the Brazilian on the outside of a wide corner. Senna won the next four Belgian Grands Prix, the first two being rain-soaked events. The 1988 event was the first Grand Prix to be held in late August/early September instead of May or June (excluding the rescheduled 1985 event) and it has remained in this time frame until 2024.
The 1990 event had to be restarted twice after a multi-car accident at the La Source hairpin on the first start and then Paolo Barilla crashing at Eau Rouge on the second start. In 1992 Michael Schumacher won his first of 91 Grand Prix victories in a Benetton, a year after making his debut at the circuit. Damon Hill won the 1993 event after battling with Senna and Schumacher.
1998 is one of the most memorable races, the craziest race starts in the history of F1, the late Murray Walker declaring, “This is the worst start to a Grand Prix I have seen in the whole of my life.” The original start in mixed conditions saw thirteen of the twenty-two runners involved in a collision at La Source on the opening lap
That race saw Jordan take their first win after Schumacher crashed into the back of David Coulthard amid the poor visibility and spray. Only eight drivers were classified finishers (two of whom were five laps behind, one of whom was Coulthard) and Damon Hill secured a victory ahead of his teammate Ralf Schumacher to record the Jordan team’s first Formula One win. That came after Michael crashed into Coulthard as the McLaren tried to unlap himself, resulting in a pit lane punch up.
Michael meanwhile, would go on to equal Prost’s record of fifty-one wins in 2001, he would also take his final world title in 2004. But the 2000s were patchy with the race being dropped in 2003 due to tobacco advertising laws and delays to upgrade work in 2006. The three races in 2004, 2005 and 2007 all won by Kimi Raikkonen.
The 2008 race saw a dramatic conclusion as rain started to fall, Sir Lewis Hamilton lost to Räikkönen with an early spin but fought back in the closing laps to retake the lead with two laps to go. On a soaking track, Hamilton passed Räikkönen, lost the lead again with a spin, re-took it and then saw Räikkönen crash. Ferrari’s Felipe Massa took second leaving him eight points behind Hamilton. Hamilton had been deemed to have passed Raikkonen by cutting the Bus Stop Chicane, demoting him to third following a twenty-five-second penalty.
2009 and 2013 also saw huge first lap shunts, the first at Les Combes caused by Romain Grosjean, after going into the back of Jenson Button, as Hamilton backed off Jaime Alguersuari to run into him; both crashed into the barrier and retired.
The safety car came in on lap 5 with Fisichella still leading and Räikkönen right behind him. Raikkonen retained the lead following the final round of pit stops, holding off the Force India to take his final victory for Ferrari until Austin 2018.
The 2012 incident saw several cars, including Hamilton, Alonso and Sergio Perez, retire at the first corner. Grosjean made a good start and moved up to the inside of La Source, but in doing so, squeezed Hamilton between himself and the pit wall. The two touched wheels, both drivers losing control.
Grosjean then speared into the back of Pérez and became airborne, crashing heavily into Alonso, missing Alonso’s head by a few inches. Grosjean came to rest at the outside wall. Hamilton crashed into Kobayashi as well as Alonso after Grosjean’s heavy impact. Pérez lost his rear wing from Grosjean’s hit and touched Maldonado when the accident happened, making Maldonado spin. Only Kobayashi and Maldonado emerged from the crash, Kobayashi with a substantial hole in the side of his car
Grosjean was fined €50,000 and was given a one-race ban at the Italian Grand Prix for his role in the crash at the start, for his part in the collision and for jumping the start, Maldonado was given two five-place grid penalties. Button went on to win that race by thirteen and a half seconds ahead of Vettel.
2014 was the beginning of the Hamilton-Rosberg rivalry, again a collision at Les Combe saw the two collide before Vettel ran into the back of Hamilton. Rosberg giving up the lead after being forced to pit for a new rear wing; he was later given a disciplinary by Mercedes. The lead went to Daniel Ricciardo, despite Rosberg remaining quick through the race, the Australian went onto take victory.
Mercedes went on to win the next three races, with Hamilton winning two and Rosberg winning in 2016. Charles Leclerc took his first F1 victory at Spa in 2019, amid difficult circumstances following the death in the F2 race of his friend Anthoine Hubert. The Monegasque driver won a Formula One Grand Prix, after holding off the Mercedes, partly helped by a collision between Valtteri Bottas and Max Verstappen.
His teammate also played his part in allowing Leclerc to retake the lead, of the race with eleven laps to go. On his debut for Red Bull, Alex Albon finished fifth working his way up from fifteenth after penalties for the car for exceeding its engine allocation.
2020 race saw another win for Hamilton, leading his Mercedes teammate Bottas throughout the race and eventually taking victory by eight seconds.
2021 notable for becoming the shortest race in history and the only World Championship Grand Prix not to have any running under full green flag conditions in its duration, with only two full laps completed behind the safety car before the race was red-flagged on lap 3 and not restarted due to adverse weather conditions with the race classification being counted back to the end of lap 1; Max Verstappen classified first, George Russell second and Lewis Hamilton third, with half points being awarded.
Verstappen won again in 2022 and 2023, the latter being his third win in a row as he took a dominant twenty-three seconds ahead of teammate Sergio Perez. He also won Saturday’s Sprint at Spa.
Leclerc was third, and the Ferrari driver made a good start but as he predicted on Friday the pace wasn’t their to take the fight to Red Bull. He fended off the Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton, and then he was always within a handful of seconds of Perez and more than able to hold Hamilton at bay.
Race & Circuit Guide
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| Round | 10 of 22 | |
| Race | Formula 1 Moet & Chandon Belgian Grand Prix 2026 | |
| Venue | Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, Stavelot, Wallonia, Belgium | |
| Configuration | 2022 | |
| Circuit Length | 7.004 km (4.352 mi) | |
| Laps | 44 | |
| Race Distance | 308.052km (191.398 | |
| Lap Record | Race | 01:44.701 (Sergio Perez, Red Bull – Honda RBPT, RB20, 2024) |
| Outright | 01:40.510 (Oscar Piastri, McLaren – Mercedes, MCL39, 2025) | |
| Previous Current Winners | Lewis Hamilton (5)
Max Verstappen (3) Charles Leclerc (1) Oscar Piastri |
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| Most Wins (Drivers) | Micheal Schumacher (6) | |
| Most Wins (Constructor) | Ferrari (18) | |
| Most Wins (Engine Manufacture) | ||
Fast facts
- Of current drivers, Lewis Hamilton has the best record at Spa with five victories – but he has also recorded three first-lap retirements at the track.
- In 2019, Charles Leclerc became the first driver to score a maiden Grand Prix Victory at Spa since Michael Schumacher in 1992.
- Max Verstappen and Lando Norris have Belgian mothers and citizenship, but decided to represent the Netherlands and Britain, where their fathers come from. Nevertheless, Spa is also de facto ‘home races’, along with Monaco, where they live.
- Despite taking his first F1 victory at Spa and going on to win the Belgian Grand Prix for four consecutive seasons, Jim Clark detested the track.
- Bruno Senna set the only fastest lap of his F1 career at the Belgian Grand Prix in 2012. Strangely, that’s something which his Uncle Ayrton never achieved, despite winning six Grands Prix at Spa.
Event timetable
Session |
Local (CEST) |
UK (BST) |
Friday |
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| P1 | 13:30-14:30 | 12:30-13:30 |
| P2 | 17:00-18:30 | 16:00-17:00 |
Saturday |
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| P3 | 12:30-13:30 | 11:30-12:30 |
| Qualifying | 16:00-17:00 | 15:00-17:00 |
Sunday |
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| Race | 15:00 | 14:00 |
What happened in 2025?
Practice saw Oscar Piastri set the pace with a 42.022, four tenths faster than Max Verstappen, the Dutchman split the McLaren’s after going a tenth faster than Lando Norris. However, Norris abandoned one of his runs after dipping a tyre onto the gravel, while George Russell and Charles Leclerc, who had been fastest at one stage was fifth.
Sprint qualifying Oscar Piastri beat Max Verstappen to pole by just under half a second with a 40.510 on his final attempt to put himself comfortably ahead of the Red Bull, who failed to take pole in any format at Spa since 2020. Norris was third a tenth and a half ahead of Charles Leclerc
Sprint saw Verstappen pass Piastri on the opening lap after getting a brilliant tow from La Source all the way through Eau Rouge and along the Kemmel Straight before outbraking and passing Piastri into the entry to Les Combes. Piastri was then unable to find a way past during the remainder of the race, allowing the Dutchman to take a three-quarters-of-a-second victory.
GP qualifying saw Norris beat his McLaren teammate Piastri by eight and a half hundredths. The English-Belgian driver set a 40.562 to take his fourth pole of the season despite neither managing to improve on their final runs after both made mistakes on their final runs. Leclerc was third after Verstappen failed to improve on his last run.
After a delayed start, it was Piastri who took victory after overtaking Norris when racing got underway on lap four. Piastri was glued to the back of Norris at the start through La Source and up through Eau Rouge and Raidillon, allowing the Australian to draw alongside Norris along the Kemmel Straight and out brake him, taking the lead into Les Combes.
Leclerc joined the two McLarens on the podium, but despite the improved performances for Ferrari, the Monacan was unable to chase down the McLarens and finished sixteen seconds behind Norris. Leclerc drove a steady race to hold Max Verstappen behind him for much of the race in the changing conditions at Spa.
Sprint Pole Position |
Oscar Piastri
McLaren – Mercedes 01:40.510 |
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Sprint Winner |
Max Verstappen
Red Bull – Honda RBPT 26:37.997 |
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Pole Position |
Lando Norris
McLaren – Mercedes 01:40.562 |
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Podium |
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Po |
Name |
Nat |
Team |
Time |
Points |
|
| 1 | Oscar Piastri | AUS | McLaren – Mercedes | 01:25:22.601 | 25 | |
| 2 | Lando Norris | GBR | McLaren – Mercedes | +00:03.417 | 18 | |
| 3 | Charles Leclerc | MON | Ferrari | +00:20.185 | 15 | |
| Fastest
Lap |
Andrea Kimi Antonelli | ITA | Mercedes | 01:44.861 | ||
Championship Standings
Drivers’ Championship |
Constructors Championship |
|||
Po |
Name |
Points |
Constructor |
Points |
| 1 | Andrea ‘Kimi’ Antonelli | 179 | Mercedes | 333 |
| 2 | George Russell | 154 | Ferrari | 255 |
| 3 | Lewis Hamilton | 147 | McLaren – Mercedes | 179 |
| 4 | Charles Leclerc | 108 | Red Bull – Ford RBPT | 128 |
| 5 | Lando Norris | 97 | Alpine – Mercedes | 60 |
What to watch for?
This weekend is the start of the final double header before the summer break at another circuit which is about speed and cornering, again making Mercedes the favourites but they do have to be careful as we have seen both reliability and mistakes creep in. that has become a factor and with Ferrari winning two of the last four races, but I’m surprised they got this far into the season without issues given what we saw in Sakhir testing.
Mercedes has, on paper, without the reliability concerns, the advantage, at this kind of high-speed and downforce circuit, but Ferrari has started to close in and knows they can win races this season. I was impressed by how Kimi Antonelli has bounced back following recent setbacks and how he kept going at Silverstone to fight to finish the race. Ferrari drivers are both starting to come into the fight.
Lewis Hamilton is just seven points behind George Russell. The Mercedes driver has had bad luck this season, as well as mentioned the reliability concerns the Silver Arrows have. The seven-time champion has been rejuvenated this season and is the most successful driver on the grid here as this circuit rewards drivers who can balance risk, attack and strategy.
McLaren are starting to come back into this championship fight, though they aren’t realistically defending their championships; they could become a factor in deciding the outcome if they start winning races, and we know how good they were over the previous cycle when it came to developing their car. Lando Norris is only eleven points behind Leclerc, so he isn’t out of the hunt mathematically if reliability becomes a concern.
Max Verstappen, like Norris, this is a home race, and his future at Red Bull is likely to define the summer because of break clauses based on his championship position. What does Red Bull need to do to convince him to stay with the team? The next two weeks could be key.
On paper relatively similar in profile to Silverstone, it will throw up different challenges for the 2026 power units with its long straights and dramatic energy harvesting requirements. Power deployment could be an issue. How do the cars handle the long section from La Source to La Combes, effectively flat out, and they may have to manage deployment as they could in theory use all of it in sector one.
Alpine, Racing Bulls and Haas are currently locked in a battle for best of the rest. In recent races, it feels as if Alpine and Pierre Gasly has had the upper hand, but this fight feels like Haas aren’t scoring the points, as its effectively only a fight for ninth and tenth as the top four teams have only scored a quarter of the points of the bottom six.
Each team has had their highs this season making it as we have seen in recent years difficult to predict weekend to weekend.
2024 vs 2025 Race Data
P1 Fastest |
P2 Fastest |
SQ1 Fastest |
SQ2 Fastest |
SQ3 Fastest |
P3 Fastest |
Sprint time |
Q1 Fastest |
Q2 Fastest |
Q3 Fastest |
Race Time |
Fastest Lap |
|
2025 |
01:42.002 | 01:42.043 | 01:42.043 | 01:42.043 | 26:37.987 | 01:41.010 | 01:40.626 | 01:40.562 | 01:25:21.601 | 01:44.861 | ||
Diff |
-01.370 | -13.928 | -13.211 | -12.597 | -05:36.165 | +00.160 | ||||||
2024 |
01:43.372 | 01:42.260 | 02:01.365 | 01:54.938 | 01:53.837 | 01:53.159 | 01:19:57.566 | 01:44.701 |
2025 Lap time comparison
FP1 |
SQ1 |
SQ2 |
SQ3 |
Sprint |
Q1 |
Q2 |
Q3 |
Grand Prix |
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Team |
Fastest Time |
Gap |
Fastest Time |
Gap |
Fastest Time |
Gap |
Fastest Time |
Gap |
Race. Time |
Interval |
Gap |
Fastest Time |
Gap |
Fastest Time |
Gap |
Fastest Time |
Gap |
Race Time |
Gap |
Inter |
Mercedes |
01:42.588 | +00.576 | 01:42.650 | +00.607 | 01:42.380 | +00.968 | N/A | 27:03.966 | +00:25.969 | +00:01.418 | 01:41.748 | +00.738 | 01:41.254 | +00.628 | 01:41.260 | +00.698 | 01:25:57.464 | +00:34.963 | +00:15.132 | |
Red Bull |
01:42.426 | +00.404 | 01:42.043 | +00.000 | 01:41.583 | +00.171 | 01:40.987 | +00.477 | 26:37.987 | +00:00.000 | +00:00.000 | 01:41.334 | +00.320 | 01:40.951 | +00.325 | 01:40.903 | +00.341 | 01:25:44.332 | +00:21.751 | +00:01.546 |
Ferrari |
01:42.928 | +00.906 | 01:42.763 | +00.702 | 01:41.786 | +00.374 | 01:41.278 | +00.768 | 26:48.175 | +00:10.176 | +00:08.762 | 01:41.635 | +00.625 | 01:41.086 | +00.460 | 01:40.900 | +00.338 | 01:25:42.796 | +00:20.185 | +00:16.770 |
McLaren |
01:42.002 | +00.000 | 01:42.068 | +00.025 | 01:41.412 | +00.000 | 01:40.510 | +00.000 | 26:38.750 | +00:00.750 | +00:00.750 | 01:41.010 | +00.000 | 01:40.626 | +00.000 | 01:40.562 | +00.000 | 01:25:21.601 | +00:00.000 | +00:00.000 |
Aston Martin |
01:43.112 | +01.090 | 01:42.427 | +00.384 | 01:42.458 | +01.046 | N/A | 27:04.592 | +00:26.595 | +00:00.626 | 01:42.385 | +01.375 | N/A | N/A | 01:26:42.432 | +01:19.831 | +00:04.436 | |||
Racing Bulls |
01:43.122 | +01.100 | 01:42.711 | +00.668 | 01:42.088 | +00.676 | 01:41.971 | +01.461 | 26:52.116 | +00:19.119 | +00:00.509 | 01:41.572 | +00.562 | 01:41.281 | +00.655 | 01:41.310 | +00.748 | 01:25:14.534 | +00:52.053 | +00:11.354 |
Alpine |
01:43.929 | +01.907 | 01:42.171 | +00.128 | 01:41.949 | +00.537 | 01:41.959 | +01.449 | 27:16.069 | +00:38.072 | +00:05.205 | 01:41.800 | +00.790 | 01:41.533 | +00.907 | N/A | 01:26:35.315 | +01:12.146 | +00:16.280 | |
Haas |
01:43.570 | +01.548 | 01:42.822 | +00.779 | 01:41.801 | +00.389 | 01:41.971 | +01.461 | 26:51.607 | +00:13.789 | +00:03.646 | 01:41.617 | +00.607 | 01:41.525 | +00.899 | N/A | 01:26:35.746 | +01:13.143 | +00:00.431 | |
Sauber |
01:43.262 | +01.204 | 01:42.806 | +00.763 | 01:41.901 | +00.489 | 01:42.179 | +01.669 | 27:00.180 | +00:22.186 | +00:03.054 | 01:41.844 | +00.834 | 01:41.336 | +00.710 | 01:42.387 | +01.825 | 01:26:36.229 | +00:56.434 | +00:00.488 |
Williams |
01:43.217 | +01.195 | 01:42.776 | +00.733 | 01:42.051 | +00.639 | 01:41.761 | +01.251 | 26:52.961 | +00:14.964 | +00:01.175 | 01:41.691 | +00.681 | 01:41.505 | +00.879 | 01:41.201 | +00.639 | 01:26:02.280 | +00:39.926 | +00:05.063 |
Tyres
| White Hard (C2) | Yellow Medium (C3) | Red Soft (C4) |
