2026 Belgian Grand Prix Preview: 5 Big Talking Points Heading into the Weekend

Linus O'Howell

Jul 17

4 min read

Three Half-Home Races

What do Max Verstappen, Lando Norris, and Lance Stroll all have in common, besides being Formula 1 Pole Sitters? Well, the answer to that question is that all three drivers have a Belgian mother! So, technically, this weekend serves as sort of a semi-Home Race for all three, with Max Verstappen even having his own grandstand! Max is actually a three-time winner of the Belgian Grand Prix, whilst neither Lando nor Lance have a particularly good record around the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps! Realistically, it’s going to be very difficult for any of these three to appear on the top step of the Podium this weekend, with Aston Martin literally owning the slowest car, whilst Mercedes and Ferrari feel clear of Red Bull and McLaren! Also, it was just announced (at time of writing) that Lando will have to serve a 10-place grid penalty, so I’d say that Verstappen and Norris’ only hope is a bit of rain (but not too much rain that the Race doesn’t take place again)!

Racing Bulls’ Impressive Run

Whilst Alpine currently occupies the “best of the rest” position in the Constructors’ Championship, there’s no doubt that Racing Bulls are the in-form team in the midfield! In each of the last 4 Qualifying sessions (including Sprint Quali), both VCARBs have made it into Q3, whilst they’ve scored double points in each of the last 4 weekends, including two P6/P7 finishes! Liam Lawson has been one of the drivers of the season so far, scoring points in 7 of the 9 weekends, whilst Arvid Lindblad has started to find some good consistency early in his Rookie season! Due to scoring 45 points across the last 5 Race Weekends, Racing Bulls are now just 1 point behind Alpine in the battle for P5, a fight that they feel favourites for right now!

A Crucial Victory for Charles Leclerc

There’s been no hiding away from the fact that Charles Leclerc has not had the best of times in 2026, with the Monegasque driver clearly struggling to adapt to F1’s latest machinery! In a similar way to George Russell, Max Verstappen, and Oscar Piastri, the huge importance of being tactical with your battery has taken away a lot of the driver's skill when it comes to breaking as late as possible, something Charles was exceptional at! Alongside incidents in both Miami and Canada, Leclerc was only able to score 4 points across Monaco, Barcelona, and Austria, with teammate Lewis Hamilton winning for Ferrari in Spain! The expectations regarding Charles were at an all-time low heading into Silverstone, particularly as his track record at that specific circuit was pretty dire! However, after a difficult Sprint, Charles Leclerc was able to qualify on the front row of the grid, putting himself in the perfect position to take the lead from Andrea Kimi Antonelli into Turn 1! Amazingly, Leclerc was able to keep that lead throughout, earning his first Formula 1 Victory since USA 2024! At a time when he needed it most, Charles Leclerc delivered a victory that could just be the thing that reinvigorates his season!

What Are Williams Doing?

I think I’ve avoided this question for far too long due to the diabolical performance of Aston Martin, but Williams have also been pretty damn awful! James Vowles has been going on for years about how Williams are going to be super strong from 2026 onwards, and yet they’ve been rubbish! Williams are 8th in the Constructors’; they’ve scored just 11 points, a year after they finished best of the rest with two Podiums (when they weren’t even trying)! It’s genuinely been so bad that both cars have gone out in Q1 on many an occasion, with Carlos Sainz saying multiple times that he maximised the lap when he’s set to start from P15! Speaking of Carlos Sainz, the former 4-time Grand Prix Winner was promised big things when he moved to Grove, and yet, as it stands, it feels like Carlos is one of the two biggest pieces of the 2027 F1 Driver Market! Sort it out, Williams; you’ve been embarrassing!

Andrea Kimi Antonelli’s Luck Has Gone

3 years ago, the cover of my article titled “15 of the Most Exciting Up-and-Coming Racing Drivers” was taken by none other than a young Andrea Kimi Antonelli, who at the time was competing at the Formula 4 level! Now, skipping forward to the present day, Kimi leads the Formula 1 World Drivers’ Championship, a position he’s held since he took victory at Round 3 in Suzuka! The gap would then continue to grow and grow in Antonelli’s favour as teammate George Russell suffered multiple bits of bad luck, meaning the gap between the two following Monaco was 68 points! However, in Spain, Kimi Antonelli’s luck started to falter with a late-Race DNF; had that not happened, he would’ve beaten Russell! In Austria, inexperience cost Kimi, with George taking victory, whilst in Silverstone, Antonelli looked almost unstoppable! That was until more bad luck came Kimi’s way, with him getting damage that eventually took him out of the points following a 5-second time penalty (that only happened because of said damage)! In fact, all of the chaos that happened at the end of the 2026 British Grand Prix allowed George Russell to rise to second, meaning we head into Spa with just 25 points separating the two Mercedes drivers! That’s also known as 1 Race victory in comparison to a DNF, something that could totally happen this weekend! If Andrea Kimi Antonelli has the luck, he’ll probably win this weekend! However, that’s anything but guaranteed!