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Motorsport.com - Formula 1 - Stories
Max Verstappen slams F1 Belgian GP rain delay: "If you can't see, you can always lift"
Max Verstappen has slammed Formula 1 race control's decision to delay the start of the Belgian Grand Prix for over an hour due to visibility concerns, which he felt penalised Red Bull's decision to move towards a wet weather set-up.
As a downpour hit Spa-Francorchamps before the start, race control decided to suspend the starting procedure after the formation lap due to concerns over limited ...Keep reading
Motorsport.com - Formula 1 - Stories
Belgian GP: Five quick takeaways
Piastri stops Norris’ momentum just in time
Two consecutive wins brought Lando Norris within striking distance of his team-mate and now sole championship rival, reigniting hopes of reclaiming the championship lead before the summer break. The Brit has made significant progress in recent races, particularly in adapting his driving style, which has paid off in a series of strong ...Keep reading
Formula 1 News
Who starts where for the Belgian Grand Prix
The full official starting order for Sunday's 2025 Belgian Grand Prix at Spa-Francorchamps.
.
https://www.the-race.com/content/images/2025/07/XPB_1363202_HiRes.jpg
Dunne's penalty and Lindblad's disqualification meant Stanek instead inherited his second victory in F2.
Ritomo Miyata and Williams F1 junior Luke Browning completed the revised podium.
Formula 1 – The Race
F1's Belgian GP underway after long rain delay
https://www.the-race.com/content/images/2025/07/XPB_1363284_HiRes.jpg The start of Formula 1’s Belgian Grand Prix was delayed by over an hour after wet weather forced a red flag during the formation lap.
A band of rain hit the track shortly before the scheduled 3pm start time, and the FIA elected to run a formation lap behind the safety car to check on conditions.
The track itself did not seem too treacherous in terms of standing water, but a number of drivers complained about the lack of visibility because of spray being thrown up.
Pole position man Lando Norris said things were bad enough for him, so were likely much worse for cars stuck in traffic behind him.
With the forecast predicting at the time that a final weather cell would blow over the track within 30 minutes, conditions were expected to improve, thus the FIA elected for a red flag to help open up a better window to get things going.
https://www.the-race.com/content/images/2025/07/XPB_1363317_HiRes.jpg
Another attempt to kick things off followed at 4.20pm local time, and after several laps under the safety car the grand prix kicked off with a rolling start.
The three-hour time limit to get the event completed was not in effect at the original start time because the race start procedure was suspended and therefore the race itself has not formally begun.
The main Formula 3 race of the weekend had been cancelled earlier in the day due to rain, but Porsche Supercup and Formula 2 did get their races in.
As a consequence of the farcical 2021 Belgian Grand Prix that was abandoned without any racing laps being completed, different rules are in place in F1 now regarding when points will be handed out.
https://www.the-race.com/content/images/2025/07/XPB_1105162_HiRes.jpg
A minimum of two laps by the leader, without a safety car or virtual safety car intervention, will be required in order for any points to be awarded.
If the leader has completed more than two laps but less than 25% of the scheduled race distance, the top five finishers will be awarded points on a 6-4-3-2-1 scale.
That will change to nine finishers on a 13-10-8-6-5-4-3-2-1 scale if 25% but less than 50% has been completed by the race leader.
And if the leader has completed 50% but less than 75% of the scheduled race distance, points will be awarded to 10 drivers on a 19-14-12-9-8-6-5-3-2-1 scale.
Motorsport.com - Formula 1 - Stories
F1 bracing for intense rain ahead of Belgian GP race start
Formula 1 teams are bracing for a wet start to Sunday afternoon's Belgian Grand Prix at Spa, with an 80% chance of intense rain showers around the race's planned start time.
The skies above the Belgian Ardennes opened up on Sunday morning as expected, with a huge downpour forcing the FIA Formula 3 race to be scrapped.
Later on, the F2 feature race got off to a rolling start after four ...Keep reading
Motorsport.com - Formula 1 - Stories
Real Madrid star Thibaut Courtois sets sights on owning an F2 team and racing in GT3
Real Madrid and Belgium goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois was hard to miss at Spa, towering over Max Verstappen, Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri as he presented them with their sprint race trophies on Saturday after waving the chequered flag.
But the 2m-tall goalie isn't just a random local celebrity ushered to Spa for an obligatory PR appearance, as Courtois is a genuine petrolhead.
"Even as a ...Keep reading
Formula 1 News
The crash that inspired Sonny Hayes' character in 'F1'
F1 Hall of Fame journalist David Tremayne looks at the heart-stopping crash that inspired the backstory of Brad Pitt's Sonny Hayes in F1 The Movie.
344
G. Russell
343.9
L. Hamilton
343.7
Y. Tsunoda
342.8
F. Colapinto
341.6
L. Norris
341.1
N. Hulkenberg
341
G. Bortoletto
341
A. Albon
341
L. Lawson
340.9
K. Antonelli
340.9
L. Stroll
340.8
F. Alonso
340.5
P. Gasly
339.6
C. Sainz
339.1
O. Bearman
338.4
O. Piastri
337.6
I. Hadjar
337.3
M. Verstappen
336.2
You can also see that while Esteban Ocon's Haas was slower through the speed trap in grand prix qualifying versus sprint qualifying, he still had the fastest car at the end of the Kemmel Straight in grand prix qualifying.
We know Haas split its drivers' downforce levels, with Ocon's team-mate Ollie Bearman unsurprisingly towards the bottom with a higher-downforce set-up.
https://www.the-race.com/content/images/2025/07/XPB_1362827_HiRes.jpg
The Ferraris also appeared to be trimmed out for the race, although Lewis Hamilton has since opted for a pitlane start.
Meanwhile, Max Verstappen is at the bottom of that chart with a figure of 336.2km/h - again, we know Red Bull switched him to a higher downforce set-up (a higher downforce rear wing with cut-outs) for grand prix qualifying versus the sprint event.
That sets up an interesting race. If the grand prix is wet, you'd imagine Verstappen is well-placed with Leclerc and George Russell's Mercedes potentially lacking downforce in comparison, and the McLaren drivers somewhere in the middle.
But if the rain clears before the race, then the straightline speed advantage Verstappen had over the McLarens in the sprint may be absent.
y to declare Williams back in control of the midfield fight, but it certainly seems to have made a step in performance that will boost its chances of maintaining fifth.
It might just be that new peak is harder for its drivers to access than before.
Formula 1 – The Race
How each F1 team is set up for a wet or dry Belgian GP
https://www.the-race.com/content/images/2025/07/SI202507261446-1.jpg With the looming threat of rain hanging over the Belgian Grand Prix, the wing choices of Formula 1 teams are likely to play a part in the outcome of the race.
Parc ferme reopened after the sprint race on Saturday morning, so teams had a small window to make any set-up changes before they were locked in for grand prix qualifying and the grand prix itself.
There are a few telltale signs of the choices teams have made.
You can look at sector one times, given the run out of La Source up to the top of Kemmel Straight is flat-out.
https://www.the-race.com/content/images/2025/07/XPB_1362845_HiRes.jpg
But this is vulnerable to being skewed by how a driver navigates the entry and exit of La Source, with multiple drivers making mistakes across the two qualifying sessions.
A better measure is looking at the speed trap differences between sprint and grand prix qualifying.
That speed trap figure can be calculated by subtracting the speed at the top of Eau Rouge/Raidillon from the speed at the end of the Kemmel Straight in each session.
Edd Straw has compiled that data, and the delta between the two sessions, to produce the below table. Sprint vs GP qualifying delta comparison
Sprint (km/h)
Main (km/h)
Delta (km/h)
K. Antonelli
19.2
24.3
5.1
G. Russell
22.6
26.4
3.8
L. Norris
23.1
25.7
2.6
F. Alonso
26.3
28.8
2.5
L. Stroll
28
29.8
1.8
P. Gasly
19.5
21.3
1.8
A. Albon
25
26.5
1.5
C. Leclerc
27.5
28.9
1.4
Y. Tsunoda
26.5
27.1
0.6
O. Piastri
23.2
23.5
0.3
F. Colapinto
21.7
21.7
0
C. Sainz
26.1
25.7
-0.4
L. Hamilton
28.6
27.9
-0.7
E. Ocon
27.5
26.7
-0.8
I. Hadjar
23.5
22.6
-0.9
G. Bortoletto
28.3
26.9
-1.4
O. Bearman
28.7
27.3
-1.4
M. Verstappen
27.1
23.9
-3.2
N. Hulkenberg
32.6
27.6
-5
L. Lawson
30.2
25
-5.2
That data isn't perfect, given that it can be influenced by drivers receiving a tow on the Kemmel Straight that would increase their speed.
These are also figures with the DRS open in all cases - although of course in the grand prix drivers won't always be using it (and won't use it at all if it's wet). So it's slightly skewed by how efficient each car's DRS is. Plus, when it comes to overtaking in the dry, usually it will be a car without DRS being passed by a car with it.
https://www.the-race.com/content/images/2025/07/M526106.jpg
So it's impossible to be definitive, but it's a decent measure of which drivers have piled on the downforce (or taken it off) after the sprint event.
The Mercedes drivers Kimi Antonelli and George Russell had the biggest increase in top speed between the sprint event and grand prix qualifying, as the team trimmed out its wings after the sprint.
Antonelli will start Sunday's race from the pitlane rather than 18th where he qualified, however, allowing Mercedes to adjust his wing levels to the conditions. https://www.the-race.com/content/images/2025/07/XPB_1362665_HiRes.jpg Aston Martin's worst-ever F1 performance explained Read more
At the other end of the scale, Liam Lawson's Racing Bulls and Nico Hulkenberg's Sauber had the biggest speed trap decreases.
The Aston Martins are a curious one, with both Fernando Alonso - who has since opted for a pitlane start - and Lance Stroll's speed increasing despite the team suggesting it had added more downforce for qualifying.
Another useful tool is to look at the speed of the cars at the end of the Kemmel Straight in grand prix qualifying, which does have the Aston Martin among the draggier cars.
Driver
Intermediate 1 (km/h)
E. Ocon
345.2
C. Leclerc
[...]
Formula 1 News
What time is the 2025 Belgian Grand Prix?
Formula 1 heads to Spa-Francorchamps this weekend for the Belgian Grand Prix, marking Round 13 of the 2025 F1 season.
Formula 1 News
What's the best F1 Fantasy line-up for Spa?
Formula 1. Spa-Francorchamps. Iconic. Throw in an F1 Sprint and unpredictable weather on the longest lap of the calendar, and Belgium can either reward bold strategy – or punish it brutally. So, it’s another week of diving into the data and crunching the numbers for our F1 Fantasy Strategist, who’s here to help guide you to a successful weekend.
g but relatively little braking, it's possible that the extra flat-out running could drain the battery faster than anticipated and thus the electrical power would not be deployed as efficiently around the lap.
But this seems a less satisfactory explanation than the first.
If we look at the comparison between Q2 and Q3 in all of the races this season, we can see that, of the top four teams, Ferrari is last in how much laptime it finds between the two sessions.
In the 14 qualifying sessions (including Sprint qualifying), Ferrari has not once found the most laptime of the four teams.
https://www.the-race.com/content/images/2025/07/Q2-To-Q3-Laptime-Gains-Post-Britain.jpg
McLaren has found the most on four occasions, Mercedes and Red Bull five apiece. Ferrari zero.
Looking then at the circuits where the Ferrari has found the least laptime from Q2 to Q3, we see Melbourne and Silverstone, two circuits with a lot of full-throttle running, as standouts.
Correlation does not equal causation, but reading between the lines of Leclerc's comments and applying that to the hard data does suggest a power unit reluctant to give its best at extended full throttle.
It seems like there is plenty for Ferrari to be working on in the search for those missing tenths.
Motorsport.com - Formula 1 - Stories
How "great innovator" Rob Marshall is impacting McLaren’s success
McLaren had been on the rise over the second half of Formula 1's 2023 season, but the addition of Rob Marshall to its technical management structure in January 2024 is generally considered to have been a key contributor to helping the team continue its progress.
Marshall, who was recruited from Red Bull following its wealth of success across 2022 and 2023, had a hand in the in-season ...Keep reading
Motorsport.com - Formula 1 - Stories
F1 Belgian GP: Oscar Piastri beats Lando Norris after lengthy rain delay
Oscar Piastri led home Lando Norris for his sixth win of the 2025 Formula 1 season as McLaren scored another 1-2 at a wet-to-dry Belgian Grand Prix.
On diverging strategies, Piastri made a one-stop from intermediates to medium tyres work to keep a chasing Norris at bay on a drying track, with Charles Leclerc beating Max Verstappen to third.
The start procedure for F1's Belgian Grand Prix was ...Keep reading
Formula 1 News
LIVE COVERAGE: Piastri leads Belgian GP as Norris chases
Live coverage of the Formula 1 Moet & Chandon Belgian Grand Prix 2025 at Spa-Francorchamps.
Formula 1 News
Watch as Piastri jumps Norris after Belgian GP start
Oscar Piastri took the lead of the Belgian Grand Prix from Lando Norris on the opening lap of a significantly delayed race at Spa Francorchamps.
Formula 1 – The Race
Two F1 juniors lose the same F2 race win
https://www.the-race.com/content/images/2025/07/XPB_1363147_HiRes.jpg McLaren Formula 1 junior Alex Dunne has been stripped of his Formula 2 feature race victory at Spa-Francorchamps, while disqualification for the initial runner-up, Red Bull junior Arvid Lindblad, means he doesn't inherit the victory either.
Dunne dominated qualifying on Friday at Spa, taking pole by 0.419s in dry conditions, but faced much closer competition in a rain-affected feature race on Sunday.
He had to nurse tyres that were "degging off a cliff" during his opening stint, keeping a pack of the chasing cars just behind him.
Dunne just about held the race lead ahead of Roman Stanek's Invicta Racing-run car when he pitted for fresh wet tyres later than Stanek, fending off an attack into the Les Combes chicane.
With Lindblad now up to second, Dunne held the lead thereafter until the race was red-flagged (it was not restarted) while under safety car conditions, when Oliver Goethe's car expired, firing out smoke and grinding to a halt partway up the Kemmel Straight.
https://www.the-race.com/content/images/2025/07/XPB_1363156_HiRes.jpg
But Dunne was penalised after the race for falling foul of Article 1.6.1 of the F2 technical regulations, which states that all cars have to be operated in accordance with the system user manuals issued to all teams.
Within those manuals is a defined start set-up procedure for all drivers to complete at the start of the formation lap.
Dunne was found not to have engaged this procedure and was referred to the stewards by the FIA F2 technical delegate Florian Bartsch.
Rodin team manager Benn Huntingford said that the race director had announced that the formation lap would be behind the safety car and be a rolling start.
The team therefore decided against Dunne activating the start set-up procedure. Dunne asked his team for confirmation and they confirmed he didn't need to.
"Having considered the matter extensively, the stewards determined that [Dunne] was in breach of Article 1.6.1 of the FIA Formula 2 technical regulations and Article 11.15 of the F2 2025 system user manual, and impose a 10-second time penalty in accordance with the 2025 FIA F2 penalty guidelines."
There is precedent for such an offence, as Kush Maini was disqualified from the 2024 Baku F2 feature race for the same infringement, although that was a standing start in which Maini stalled on the grid and triggered a frightening multi-car pile-up.
Given the field had closed up under the late-race safety car, that penalty was particularly painful for Dunne, who dropped from first to ninth place.
It was not the first time Dunne has lost a big result post-race in 2025, either, as excessive plank wear meant he lost second place in the Austrian F2 feature race.
Dunne had briefly retaken the points lead with his Spa victory, but the penalty means he's now only fourth in the standings, 11 points off new championship leader Leonardo Fornaroli. Lindblad's disqualification
https://www.the-race.com/content/images/2025/07/XPB_1363139_HiRes.jpg
Dunne's penalty should have handed victory to Red Bull's Lindblad but he was disqualified because his tyre pressures were found to be too low at the end of the race.
Pirelli has specified prior to the weekend that the minimum wet front tyre pressure was 16.0 PSI, with a minimum wet rear tyre pressure of 14.0 PSI.
All four of Lindblad's tyres were below that minimum amount:
Front left: 15.74 PSI
Front right: 15.61 PSI
Rear left: 13.59 PSI
Rear right: 13.70 PSI
His Campos team did not contest this, accepting that they had made a breach, and the team representative said he was present when the pressures were adjusted and had no objections.
That continues a tricky run for Lindblad, who has scored just five points in the last three weekends[...]
Motorsport.com - Formula 1 - Stories
F1 Belgian GP start delayed as rain hits Spa
Formula 1 race control has red-flagged the Belgian Grand Prix before the start due to poor weather conditions around Spa-Francorchamps.
As the anticipated rain showers hit the Ardennes hills on Sunday, drivers started the formation lap for the 44-lap race on Pirelli's intermediate tyres.
But due to poor visibility and heavy spray behind the safety car, FIA race control brought out the red ...Keep reading
Motorsport.com - Formula 1 - Stories
Max Verstappen rules out fighting McLaren for F1 title: 'When I watch their onboards, I know enough'
Max Verstappen is convinced McLaren will remain out of reach in the 2025 Formula 1 season as one of Red Bull's final upgrade packages hasn't solved its car's core issues.
Verstappen kept himself in the mix at Spa-Francorchamps by splitting the McLarens in sprint qualifying, and used his low-downforce set-up to pass polesitter Oscar Piastri and then remained ahead for the entire 15-lap ...Keep reading
Formula 1 News
See how Norris beat Piastri to pole with our ‘Ghost Car’
Lando Norris was quickest of all in Qualifying for the Belgian Grand Prix, bagging pole ahead of his team mate and Championship rival Oscar Piastri.
Formula 1 News
Feature Race red-flagged after adverse weather at Spa
The F3 Feature Race had two red flag stoppages due to torrential rain and adverse weather conditions in Belgium
Formula 1 – The Race
Hamilton one of three drivers opting for Belgian GP pitlane start
https://www.the-race.com/content/images/2025/07/XPB_1362497_HiRes.jpg Lewis Hamilton, Fernando Alonso and Kimi Antonelli will start the Belgian Grand Prix from the pitlane.
All three drivers were eliminated from Spa qualifying in the first segment on Saturday.
Hamilton had his best time deleted for a track limits offence, Antonelli struggled for confidence in a low-downforce Mercedes, and Alonso was second-slowest and only quicker than team-mate Lance Stroll in Aston Martin's worst ever qualifying result.
Sunday has started with heavy rain throughout the morning and a wet track. As the forecast was for a rain-hit race, Hamilton and Alonso were on set-ups more biased towards the wet anyway.
But Ferrari has made suspension set-up changes for Hamilton and at Mercedes, Antonelli expected to change rear wing specification to have more confidence in the car and take a pitlane start, especially if it rained.
And their poor grid positions have allowed Ferrari, Mercedes and Aston Martin to strategically change engines as well.
They have all got new V6 internal combustion engines, MGU-H, MGU-K and turbochargers, while Hamilton also has a new battery and control electronics.
This introduces new components into the pool at low cost as they were going to start at the back anyway.
e team digs a bit deeper into what went wrong so it does not suffer like this again in the future.
"We need to go back and understand why our package isn't performing here," he said.
"Starting near the back is never easy, and this performance doesn’t reflect where we are as a team this season."
Motorsport.com - Formula 1 - Stories
Toto Wolff: George Russell and Andrea Kimi Antonelli are Mercedes' "absolute priority" in F1
Mercedes Formula 1 chief Toto Wolff says continuing with George Russell and Andrea Kimi Antonelli for the 2026 season is the "absolutely priority" amid conversations with Max Verstappen's entourage.
Over the past few weeks it emerged that Verstappen's camp had sounded out Wolff over future plans, as the Dutchman weighs up his options to remain in a competitive car in the future.
Verstappen ...Keep reading
Formula 1 News
How to stream the Belgian GP on F1 TV Premium
Formula 1 returns to Spa-Francorchamps this weekend as the Belgian Grand Prix kicks off a double header of races – and here’s all the information you need to follow the action live on F1 TV.
Formula 1 News
10 quiz questions on F1 history in Belgium
Formula 1 gets back racing this weekend as the paddock descends on the Spa-Francorchamps circuit in Belgium. But how much do you know about F1 history at this historic venue?
Formula 1 – The Race
Mark Hughes: Two theories for Ferrari's big F1 2025 anomaly
https://www.the-race.com/content/images/2025/07/XPB_1359170_HiRes-2.jpg With Ferrari set to debut its upgraded rear suspension at Spa there are hopes that, in combination with the major floor upgrade at Silverstone, the SF25's so-far disguised F1 2025 potential will finally be achieved.
As recounted here recently by Gary Anderson, the rear suspension features a lower mounting point for the front upper wishbone, giving an enhanced anti-lift effect.
It is hoped that this, together with any changes made to the central damper, will allow the car to run at the lower ride heights originally envisaged but which had to be revised after the China plank-wear disqualification.
The performance of the car was notably better at Silverstone than in the preceding races (see graph), suggesting that the floor upgrade at least was effective.
https://www.the-race.com/content/images/2025/07/Ferrari-2025-Race-By-Race-Supertimes-Post-Britain.jpg
The Ferrari's average qualifying deficit to McLaren so far this year is a chunky 0.388s. The suspension change alone is predicted to be worth no more than 0.1s over a qualifying lap, but it's feasible that it opens a window which allows a better range of set-ups which the team can then fine tune to find more laptime.
This is all unrelated to the power steering complaints Lewis Hamilton has of the car, which we believe to be the issue Hamilton was referring to when he commented that there are features of this car which he absolutely does not want to see carried through onto the 2026 car. https://www.the-race.com/content/images/2025/07/Spacesuit-Media-Craig-Evans-580872-1.jpg Where has Leclerc's qualifying magic gone? Read more
But there is yet another anomaly in the current car's performance, which Charles Leclerc obliquely referenced after qualifying at Silverstone.
"In qualifying we've got issues for sure, particularly from Q2 onwards," he said. "We've been fighting with something inside the car, but it's not an excuse; I need to be better."
He added: "It's unrelated [to the ride-height issue]. It's something we didn't talk about too much.
"It's something that sometimes in some qualifying we had the problem. In some others we have absolutely zero problem with it, but [at Silverstone] it was a bit of a problem.
https://www.the-race.com/content/images/2025/07/Spacesuit-Media-Craig-Evans-580846.jpg
"It's not something I was expecting too much, but it's the way it is, but I can't go too much into detail...
"The issues are very specific, it's not a balance issue, it's not a grip issue. I don't want to go into the details but it's something very weird that we've got to fight with the car - and especially when it's high-speed, it makes it even more difficult.
"I hope we can resolve it."
The fact that it's a problem which is only manifested in Q3 and only on high-speed circuits suggests this is altogether separate from any steering issue. This description is a much better fit with a power unit trait. Two possibilities immediately suggest themselves.
The first is that it is an internal temperature issue when the engine is extended on full throttle for an extended period of time.
If the valves begin to exceed a critical temperature at sustained high-speed running when used on the most aggressive rev limit and mixture settings (as would be the case in Q3 but not necessarily in Q1, Q2 or the race), then the software would automatically correct that by enriching the mixture, using the extra fuel to cool the valves down, so as to save the engine from detonating.
This would of course mean that the engine would gives less than the expected power boost on the lean, full performance mixture setting chosen.
https://www.the-race.com/content/images/2025/07/XPB_1359152_HiRes.jpg
The second is on circuits with lots of flat-out runnin[...]
Motorsport.com - Formula 1 - Stories
Why new Red Bull F1 team boss Laurent Mekies is “up there with the best”
Incoming Racing Bulls team principal Alan Permane believes his Formula 1 squad's parent team Red Bull is in good hands with Laurent Mekies.
Mekies was appointed Red Bull F1 team boss and CEO earlier this month as Red Bull's top management decided to remove Christian Horner after 20 years in the role.
While Red Bull has seen a slide in competitiveness over the past 18 months, with question ...Keep reading
