Formula 1 faces the first of the two back-to-back races now on the calendar before the holidays. The Spa-Francorchamps circuit is ready to host the Belgian Grand Prix, which promises to be highly exciting as we gauge the path the world championship will take after Ferrari’s resurgence.
On the sporting side, it seems Mercedes is clearly ahead, but Ferrari challenged their dominance at Silverstone and closed the gap to Kimi Antonelli in the drivers’ standings. Max Verstappen has also shown improvements. So it’s time to start getting to know the timings and where to watch the race on TV and online.
Spa will be the last race without upgrades for Aston Martin
The Formula 1 arrives at Spa-Francorchamps with swords drawn. Kimi Antonelli leads the world championship, but George Russell closed the gap to within just 25 points at Silverstone. Moreover, Lewis Hamilton remains close in the standings, 32 points behind, while we witnessed Charles Leclerc’s first win in a long time. Ferrari is lurking.
So it isn’t clear whether Ferrari or Mercedes will be the favorite at Spa-Francorchamps. Perhaps the question is whether Kimi Antonelli will continue the bad run of the recent races, where he remains fast but is having very bad luck and cannot seal victory. McLaren also needs to take a step forward to avoid dropping off the pace.
Spa will be another very tough race for Carlos Sainz and Fernando Alonso, as in both cases there isn’t much optimism. At Aston Martin they are simply letting races pass until the first upgrades arrive, while Williams took a reality check with no points in Barcelona, Austria and Silverstone.
In Belgium there is a change in schedules and format, as we return to no Sprint. Sunday’s race will start at 15:00, but qualifying remains one hour later, at 16:00 on Saturday. The key is that there will be no Sprint as there was in Silverstone, so we will have the normal practice sessions.
The weather forecast does not foresee surprises in Spa, as there is hardly any rain predicted for the whole weekend. In fact, very high temperatures are expected for Belgium’s usual climate. To watch the race on TV in Spain there are two options, the usual paid ones, since this race is not broadcast on free-to-air.
DAZN continues to hold exclusive TV rights for Formula 1 in Spain, but Movistar Plus+ will keep picking up its signal through DAZN’s thematic channels.
Belgian GP 2026 Schedule
- Friday 17
– (P1) Practice 1: 13:30 (DAZN, Movistar Plus+)
– (P2) Practice 2: 17:00 (DAZN, Movistar Plus+)
- Saturday 18
– (P3) Practice 3: 12:30 (DAZN, Movistar Plus+)
– (Q) Qualifying: 16:00 (DAZN, Movistar Plus+)
- Sunday 19
– (RAC) Race: 15:00 (DAZN, Movistar Plus+)
Images | Formula 1
