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Kimi Antonelli was quickest in final practice in Belgium, but Lewis Hamilton crashed his Ferrari late in the session.
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The championship leader set the best time of the final hour of running before qualifying with a 1’45.990 – a tenth faster than Lando Norris and only slightly slower than his own best time from Friday.
Max Verstappen was only nine-thousandths of a second slower than the world champion in third, with George Russell fourth in the second Mercedes having been heard complaining about his perceived lack of straight line speed performance during his 12 laps of running.
Hamilton led the two Ferraris in fifth and sixth position, three tenths ahead of team mate Charles Leclerc, but the seven-times world champion has a nervous wait until qualifying as a result of a last-minute shunt. Exiting the Fagnes chicane on his final push lap of the hour, Hamilton ran wide and clipped the angled tyre barrier on the outside in a near carbon copy of Pierre Gasly’s second practice crash.
While Hamilton’s shunt was less severe than the Alpine’s, the Ferrari suffered clear rear suspension damage that will require significant repairs if he is to be able to take part in this afternoon’s practice session.
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Cooler temperatures than expected for this afternoon’s qualifying session put many teams off from running many laps over the hour-long session. Friday’s fastest driver, Antonelli, was the last of the 22 drivers to take to the seven-kilometre circuit, after almost 30 minutes had already expired.
Although several drivers were heard over team radio asking for slipstreams from their team mates or suggesting they rehearse giving their team mates a tow along the Kemmel Straight, no driver seemed willing to act as a drafting partner in the session.
At the chequered flag, Oscar Piastri was six-tenths slower than his team mate in seventh place, just ahead of the two Audis of Nico Hulkenberg and Gabriel Bortoleto. Isack Hadjar endured a session that was filled with frustration as he posted the tenth-fastest time. After grinding to a halt beyond the pit exit line, which led to temporary yellow flags in the pit lane while the Red Bull was recovered, Hadjar then almost ran into the back of Lance Stroll’s Aston Martin into Bruxelles.
The two Racing Bulls covered 46 laps between them, more than any other team, with Arvid Lindblad ahead of team mate Liam Lawson in 11th and 12th, respectively. After their strikingly slow showing on Friday, the Aston Martin pair of Fernando Alonso and Stroll were just over a second slower than Sergio Perez’s Cadillac, but again sitting at the very bottom of the times sheet.
With less than three hours until qualifying begins at 4pm local time, Ferrari will be under the pump to get the damage to Hamilton’s SF26 fixed in time for him to participate in Q1.
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2026 Belgian Grand Prix
- Antonelli quickest in final practice, Hamilton’s qualifying in question after late crash
- Antonelli leads Norris in second practice as Gasly crashes
- Verstappen leads first practice at Spa, cars five seconds slower than last year
- Verstappen had no doubt Antonelli would “make the jump” in second season of F1
- ‘Not a nice way to finish’: Leclerc doesn’t understand British GP Safety Car ending
Browse all 2026 Belgian Grand Prix articles
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