Kimi Antonelli Leads Second Practice at Spa

Formula 1 championship leader Andrea Kimi Antonelli topped the timesheets at the end of the second free practice session ahead of the Belgian Grand Prix.

During the second hour of preparation at Spa, the Italian Mercedes driver clocked the fastest lap of 1:45.944 on soft tires during his qualifying simulations midway through the session. Antonelli was the only driver to dip below the 1:46 mark.

World Champion Lando Norris finished second, 0.190 seconds behind Antonelli, while Max Verstappen, who was fastest in the opening practice earlier in the day, completed the top three, 0.472 seconds adrift. Lewis Hamilton and Isack Hadjar secured fourth and fifth positions, trailing the leader by 0.747 and 0.770 seconds respectively.

Antonelli's teammate and closest title rival, George Russell, finished a disappointing eighth in the second practice session in Belgium, with a significant deficit of 1.285 seconds. Oscar Piastri and Franco Colapinto placed sixth and seventh ahead of the Briton, while Racing Bulls drivers Arvid Lindblad and Liam Lawson also made it into the top 10 behind Russell. Charles Leclerc, winner of the last race in Great Britain, just missed out on the top ten, finishing eleventh.

Unlike the first practice, which ran without significant incidents or interruptions, the second session saw two red flags. The first stoppage occurred 11 minutes into practice due to gravel on the track from the run-off areas, which needed to be cleared. This interruption was relatively brief, and the session resumed with 43 minutes remaining.

Precisely at the start of the final quarter of the 60-minute session, Pierre Gasly had a heavy crash at the exit of Turn 13. The French Alpine driver hit the wall, causing significant damage to his car and necessitating the second stoppage of the session.

Given the amount of debris on the track and the need to recover Gasly's car, this interruption lasted considerably longer, and the session only resumed with two minutes left on the clock. Fortunately, despite the severity of the impact, Gasly was able to exit his car unassisted and was then transported to the garage by the medical car, without needing to visit the medical center.

The Belgian Grand Prix weekend, the tenth round of the 2026 Formula 1 season, will continue tomorrow (July 18) at 1:30 PM Bulgarian time with the third and final free practice session at Spa.