5 Drivers to Look Out For in the Belgian GP 2026
This weekend's Belgian Grand Prix sees Formula 1 head to one of the greatest racing circuits in the world, Spa-Francorchamps. We take a look at the key players who will be fighting for victory on Sunday.
Video Transcript
It's race week.
It is time for the Belgian Grand Prix this weekend, guys.
And ahead of the 2026 Belgian Grand Prix around the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, as always, we take a look at five drivers that I think have interesting stories to tell around what I also believe is Formula 1's greatest track.
I cannot believe this place is going on race rotation, but hey, that's Formula 1.
They follow the money.
They don't follow which tracks are good, and Spa is the GOAT in my opinion.
I know people will disagree with that, but as someone who has been privileged enough to go to the track as well, I can confirm it is even better in person than what it is on the TV.
Anyway, let's dive into which drivers you should be taking a look at this weekend here on the F1chronicle.com and Formula Reports.
So first up, we're gonna start with the local hero.
Although he doesn't compete under a Belgian license, Max Verstappen was of course born in Belgium, and this is basically his old track where he used to grow up and practice around.
It was basically his local circuit when he was a youngster, and that really does show with how good this guy is around the place.
Only one driver on the current grid has more wins around this track than him.
Indeed, Verstappen, despite not driving the best Red Bull last season, managed to take a sensational sprint victory around the track in 2025.
Unfortunately, there is no sprint race around this track in 2026, but he does have an opportunity to do something pretty remarkable and get another podium in a car that, in my opinion, isn't really that great.
If it wasn't for the issue he had with his rear wing at Silverstone, he probably would've got third place at the British Grand Prix.
That was a high-speed circuit.
This is an even higher speed circuit.
I think the Red Bull Ford power unit in the back of that car is actually a really good one.
So I think he's a dark horse to trouble not only the podium but also the victory this weekend.
But I wouldn't put him as the favorite.
Personally, the favorite for me is my number two pick on the list, that being Kimi Antonelli.
Antonelli has had so much bad luck recently.
Of course, he had the mechanical retirement around Spain, or should I say Catalunya as it's technically known these days, the Catalan Grand Prix.
And of course, he had that small part of his car come off during the British Grand Prix.
If it wasn't for that, he would've got second place.
As it is, he's still got no points from that race.
I don't know how that penalty did not get overturned after the Grand Prix, but as it is, as of the time of recording, he unfortunately didn't get any points from Silverstone.
That meant that his championship rivals, and we'll talk about all of them, potentially all three of them during this video depending on how wide you cast your net on that one, they've all closed in on him.
The pressure is on.
George Russell is now within a race victory of Antonelli for the first time in a good while.
And I honestly think that the Mercedes car will really suit this track.
It's a high-speed circuit.
That means that Ferrari shouldn't be quite as good.
Although saying that, Antonelli did not have a good time here 12 months ago.
He had an absolute shocker, finishing outside of the points after a pit lane start.
Very much one to not write home about.
But Antonelli hasn't won in a little while now, so I think it's about high time he corrects that.
And he's had some bad luck.
I think he's due some good luck around Spa.
We'll see if he gets it, though.
George Russell got some really bad luck around Spa a couple of years ago.
Of course, he crossed the line in first position, but unfortunately for him was disqualified due to his car being underweight.
Side note, that was our first ever video to really blow up on YouTube.
I think it's still our highest viewed video on YouTube to date.
Got like 80, 90,000 views, something crazy like that.
But the explainer video really did do well, so thanks to everybody who viewed that back in the day.
Although Russell didn't have as bad of a day 12 months ago as what Antonelli did, he still wasn't that great around this track.
The circuit not really suiting the Mercedes in 2025, but this '26 Mercedes is very much a different animal entirely.
Russell was a bit fortunate to finish in second position during the British Grand Prix.
You had, of course, his teammate Antonelli dropping down due to the mechanical issues you had, Max Verstappen retiring from the Grand Prix, and Sir Lewis Hamilton, more on him very shortly, of course, taking that very late pit stop and the race not restarting with the safety car for some reason deciding to stay out.
Ridiculous stuff.
Farcical stuff from Formula 1.
Can George keep his cool?
He's been steadily reeling his teammate.
He's been reeling him in over the last few races, but he has had good luck in there.
Antonelli's had some bad luck.
I think if Russell finishes on the podium this week, and I don't think that's a terrible result, but his main aim, of course, will be to beat his teammate.
But he's also gotta be looking over his shoulder a little bit too because Sir Lewis Hamilton isn't that far behind in the championship.
It is tight between the lot of them right now.
The top three are definitely in a really good championship battle this season.
That may change as we go through the season, the development race being key, Ferrari's strategy perhaps playing a part, bad luck, retirements, things like that.
But one thing I will say about the Ferrari car is that so far it's been absolutely bulletproof.
Mercedes really have not been that reliable, especially by their high standards.
In the V6 turbo era of the past before the, of course, the current power units came in this year, they were the best reliability and power-wise for pretty much the entire run, the whole 12 years, apart from that dodgy engine that Ferrari had in 2019, but let's not talk about that here.
Anyway, Hamilton, he's the guy unsurprisingly who's won more Grand Prix around here than anybody else on the grid.
Indeed, Michael Schumacher is the only man to have won here more than Hamilton.
Hamilton's won here five times.
Not bad at all.
He did get some good luck for that win, of course, the most recent one in 2024.
But still, he had to put his car in that position, and he didn't run the one-stop like Russell did, and that made the difference in the end unfortunately for Georgie Boy.
Lewis, though, is very good around here.
He could have another win.
He could have had six wins around here if it wasn't for that controversial penalty in 2008.
That could still win the poll for the classic review this week, although at the moment as of the time of recording and editing, it's going to be 1998 that gets the nod.
It is pretty tight though, so we'll see what happens.
But yeah, Hamilton, you'd normally say that Ferrari would feel pretty fortunate to be able to win this weekend.
After all, their engine is down on power.
Their car in terms of its aerodynamics, in terms of its chassis, in terms of its stability, its tire wear, is the best on the grid by some distance.
It's just the engine that's letting them down right now.
This is very much a power circuit, but Silverstone was as well.
I mean, not as much as what Spa is, but it was still a power circuit.
And Leclerc was, what, 15, 20 seconds clear of the field?
It should've been a Ferrari one-two.
Okay, maybe a one-three as it ended up being, of course, but not in the way that it inevitably happened.
Antonelli was running in second.
Russell was running in fourth at that point.
He, of course, overtook Hamilton.
So Hamilton was a little unlucky in his home race.
I think he'll bounce back at Spa.
But can Leclerc make it two from two?
It's a bit of a gap between himself and the top three, but it's not one that can't be bridged before the end of the season.
Antonelli obviously is losing his advantage steadily over these past few races, and Leclerc, with that victory, has taken a big leap into the championship battle.
And Leclerc is pretty good around here.
He did win his first ever Formula One Grand Prix here in 2019 in his debut campaign for Ferrari.
He's also finished on the podium in three of the last three Grand Prix here, despite not really driving the best Ferrari on any of those occasions.
Now, of course, you could argue that he got that win in 2019 because that engine was a little dodgy to say the least, and I would certainly argue that, but he still won fair and square-ish.
And of course, he's got that win at Silverstone, his first win in, like, two years.
It's been a long time.
He needs to keep up the winning run if he's to make a championship challenge.
But he's got the form right now, he's got the momentum, he's got the confidence.
Can he see it through?
We'll have to see what happens, guys.
But who's your pick for the Grand Prix victory this weekend?
Like I said, my personal favorite for this is Kimi Antonelli.
It's been a long time since he won a race, by his standards, of course.
He was winning them every single week earlier in the season, but not for a little while now.
He needs to get another win soon, otherwise he's gonna be under a lot of pressure from the likes of Russell, from the likes of Hamilton, and maybe even Charles Leclerc too.
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