2026 Formula 1 Belgian GP
F1 Belgian GP live commentary and updates - Race
Follow along for updates from Spa-Francorchamps as race day for the Belgian GP gets underway
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AND WE'RE OFF!
Antonelli gets a clean run to Eau Rouge but Verstappen elbows his way through ahead of Eau Rouge.
But Antonelli drafts by into Les Combes - as does Leclerc!
Russell and Hamilton tangle at Les Combes.
Air temperature ahead of the start is a mild 18C. Track temperature is 29C - quite a bit lower than previous sessions this weekend.
A fascinating first lap in prospect here since there's a long drag up the hill towards Les Combes, which is ripe for slipstreaming, and this year we have the added possibility of some drivers not having full batteries on lap one if they don't get their preparation correct.
And, yes, most drivers starting on mediums. The exceptions are: Norris (P13), Perez (P18), Stroll (P20), Hadjar (P21) and Alonso (P22) on hards - four of those drivers carrying grid penalties for out-of-quota engine components changes.
Bottas (P17) and Sainz (P19) start on softs.
Speaking of Pirelli, F1's official tyre supplier reeckons the fastest race strategy is a one-stop, starting on mediums than swapping to hards between lap 17-23. Slightly slower is a one-stop starting on softs, then changing slightly earlier.
There are two-stop strategies involving a handful of laps on the softs before going on to hards, but these will be the outliers.
One person will be pleased if it rains – the journo who has been asking about what will happen in the wet in pretty much every Pirelli press conference since the start of the season...
If it does rain, this will be the first serious running these cars have done in wet conditions – there have been tests, but on race weekends there has been barely a smattering of drizzle during track sessions. In Canada, a handful of drivers started on intermediates but got off them straight away when conditions cleared up.
That could be significant because some teams haven't run the wet or intermediate tyres at all. There are concerns about how effective they will be in terms of grip - to the extent that it's been agreed to increase the internal temperature of the blankets used to pre-warm the tyres before fitting.
By: Stuart Codling
