The second practice session for the 2026 Formula 1 Belgian Grand Prix is scheduled to begin at 17:00 CET, with Ferrari, Red Bull and Mercedes preparing to conduct their first meaningful qualifying simulations and long runs at Spa-Francorchamps. After Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc finished close behind Max Verstappen in FP1, the afternoon session should provide a clearer indication of Ferrari’s true competitiveness.
FP2 will run for exactly one hour, ending at 17:00 CET. Drivers and teams used the opening session to learn and adapt to the unique challenges presented by Spa, but the focus will now shift towards outright performance, race pace and tyre degradation with a representative amount of fuel on board.
Belgian GP FP2 to provide the first meaningful performance clues
Welcome back to ScuderiaFans’s live coverage of the second free practice session for the 2026 Belgian Grand Prix. Following the initial learning and familiarisation runs around the legendary Spa-Francorchamps circuit, the teams will now begin the programmes that should offer more useful information about the competitive order.
Qualifying simulations on the soft tyres will reveal more about each car’s single-lap potential, while the longer runs should help teams assess race pace and tyre degradation. Energy recovery and deployment will also be crucial around Spa, particularly after the FIA introduced revised MGU-K energy limits for the Belgian Grand Prix.
Max Verstappen led Ferrari in Belgian GP FP1
Max Verstappen was the fastest driver in the opening practice session. The Red Bull driver set the benchmark on soft tyres but also remained consistently near the top of the timesheets while running on the medium compound. He achieved that performance despite the much-discussed absence of the so-called “Macarena” moveable rear wing.
The two Ferrari drivers finished immediately behind Max Verstappen, with Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc both within two tenths of the leading time. The SF-26 appeared particularly competitive through Spa’s technical middle sector, while Ferrari also experimented with different approaches to hybrid energy management.
Ferrari did not declare any updates on the FIA submission document, although its configuration remains one of the central technical topics of the weekend. A complete overview of the parts introduced across the grid is available in the Belgian GP pit-lane technical analysis.
Mercedes seeks improvement after a difficult opening session
Mercedes finished much further down the order than expected in FP1. Andrea Kimi Antonelli took sixth place, while George Russell was only eighth. Those positions may not accurately represent Mercedes’ potential, however, as the team’s opening-session performance appeared almost too poor to be its true level.
FP2 should therefore help establish whether Max Verstappen and Ferrari can retain their positions at the front or whether Mercedes will return to contention once the qualifying simulations begin. Charles Leclerc had already outlined Ferrari’s expectations for the Spa weekend, stressing the different challenge presented by the Belgian circuit following the team’s victory at Silverstone.
Will the FP1 competitive order remain unchanged during the afternoon session? Follow the second practice session for the 2026 Formula 1 Belgian Grand Prix with live, minute-by-minute updates and commentary from Spa-Francorchamps.
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