April 18, 2026

Piastri Tops FP1 in Belgium Ahead of Verstappen and Norris

This race weekend in Belgium also features a Sprint race, so today’s free practice session was the one and only the drivers would get before Sprint qualifying. It was a relatively clean session, albeit some running wide into the gravel. Alex Albon was one of the first to push the limits a little too far, with Lewis Hamilton also running wide at Les Combes shortly after. Both Kimi Antonelli and Franco Colapinto locked up going into La Source, the rookies both coming out of their respective incidents with just a flat-spot on their tires. By the time the hour-long session was over, it was McLaren driver and Championship leader Oscar Piastri who sat on top with the fastest time, and Max Verstappen was behind in second. Lando Norris could only manage third fastest, ahead of Russell in the Mercedes and Leclerc in the Ferrari. Antonelli placed sixth, while Lewis Hamilton was just behind. Stroll and Alonso were eighth and ninth, respectively, and Isack Hadjar, in the Racing Bulls, was tenth. Just outside the top ten was Carlos Sainz, who could only get out for the second half of the session after suffering a fuel issue.

Below are the full results from the first and only free practice session in Belgium.

PositionDriverTeamTime
1Oscar PiastriMcLaren1:42.022
2Max VerstappenRed Bull+0.404
3Lando NorrisMcLaren+0.504
4George RussellMercedes+0.576
5Charles LeclercFerrari+0.906
6Andrea Kimi AntonelliMercedes+0.957
7Lewis HamiltonFerrari+1.063
8Lance StrollAston Martin+1.090
9Fernando AlonsoAston Martin+1.098
10Isack HadjarRacing Bulls+1.100
11Carlso SainzWilliams+1.195
12Alex AlbonWilliams+1.239
13Gabriel BortoletoKick Sauber+1.240
14Nico HulkenbergKick Sauber+1.448
15Liam LawsonRacing Bulls+1.456
16Esteban OconHaas+1.548
17Pierre GaslyAlpine+1.907
18Yuki TsunodaRed Bull+2.470
19Franco ColapintoAlpine+2.825
20Oliver BearmanHaas+3.055

Seattle Strayer

Seattle works for the team F1 Dreaming and has been with the team for 1 season. Her favorite thing about Formula 1 is the adrenaline and thrill of racing!

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