Belgian GP 2026 Driver Ratings: Antonelli delivers, Verstappen shines, McLaren left wondering

The Belgian GP delivered contrasting fortunes across the grid, with Kimi Antonelli producing a statement victory while several title contenders were left frustrated by circumstances beyond their control.

From standout drives to missed opportunities, PlanetF1 rates every driver’s performance from a dramatic weekend at Spa-Francorchamps.

Belgian GP 2026: Full Driver Ratings and Analysis

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Lando Norris – 8/10

Qualified: 3rd | Race: 7th

Lando Norris delivered a strong recovery drive in Belgium. His initial pace was front-running and he looked capable of fighting for a podium, but the timing of the VSC delayed his stop, which was compounded by being slow. He had the speed of a top-three contender but not the result to show for it, and he was right to point out the frustration of losing another weekend to factors outside his control.

Oscar Piastri – 7/10

Qualified: 7th | Race: 5th

Piastri had been compromised by damage rather than a lack of pace, with the damage costing him performance and making the car difficult to balance through the opening stint. He recovered reasonably well after the repair but was unable to make significant progress while trapped in dirty air, eventually finishing fifth. He was rightly frustrated following the clash with Charles Leclerc, which prompted a damage limitation.

George Russell – NA

Qualified: 4th | Race: Did not finish

A battery issue exiting La Source at the race start triggered a cascade of problems, leaving him defenseless on the Kemmel Straight. Contact with Lewis Hamilton followed and ended his afternoon. Russell described the collision as a racing incident, reserving his frustration for the energy issues problems that had left him so vulnerable. It was a race ruined by machinery and circumstance rather than driving, giving him little opportunity to influence the outcome.

Kimi Antonelli – 9/10

Qualified: 1st | Race: 1st

Antonelli delivered a composed and mature victory at Spa. He absorbed pressure from Max Verstappen early and Charles Leclerc late, passing the latter on track to win after losing the initiative under the Virtual Safety Car. His pace, energy management and defense under pressure marked another statement performance and he extended his championship advantage.

Max Verstappen – 9/10

Qualified: 2nd | Finished: 3rd

Verstappen had delivered a performance at Spa, extracting a podium from a weekend where Red Bull had not expected to be a front-running package. He kept Antonelli within reach in the opening stint and showed impressive awareness in managing the huge deployment differences through Eau Rouge. He lost time during the second stint when the balance moved away from him but event still the result was good given the circumstances.

Isack Hadjar – 9/10

Qualified: 10th | Race: 6th

Isack Hadjar delivered one of his strongest races of the season, recovering from a grid penalty and using a bold hard-tyre strategy to turn potential frustration into a convincing sixth-place finish in the Belgian GP. He showed excellent race pace in clean air, managed the tyres well, and proved he could extract performance when given the opportunity. His belief that a podium was possible without penalties was slightly optimistic, but the underlying pace and execution backed up a very impressive weekend.

Charles Leclerc – 9/10

Qualified: 5th | Race: 2nd

Charles Leclerc delivered one of the stronger drives of the weekend at Spa, extracting a podium at an event where Ferrari was compromised by its significant straight-line speed deficit. He maximised an imperfect package, although he had ultimately lacked the raw deployment advantage to challenge for victory. However, his clash with Oscar Piastri was unnecessary, entirely avoidable, and clumsy. He was extremely fortunate not to have been penalised.

Lewis Hamilton – 7/10

Qualified: 6th | Race: 4th

Lewis Hamilton had a messy Belgian GP, with his own mistake in practice compromising qualifying and a first-lap clash with George Russell leaving him with damage and a five-second penalty. Despite losing a significant amount of downforce, he recovered well to finish fourth and showed strong pace when the car was intact. While his recovery in the race was solid, the execution across the weekend was not at the level he’s capable of delivering.

Carlos Sainz – 7/10

Qualified: 15th | Race: 16th

Carlos Sainz endured a difficult race after first-lap contact damaged his front wing and compromised the opening phase. He had started from the back after a power unit change and finished P16, with Williams unable to convert improved race pace into points. A solid recovery drive, but the early damage and lack of final result kept it below a top performance.

Alex Albon – 6/10

Qualified: 17th | Race: 15th

Alex Albon showed flashes of competitiveness but faded as the Belgian GP unfolded, unable to maintain his early promise as the midfield found more pace. He drove a clean race and extracted what was available from the car, but the performance gap remained obvious.

Fernando Alonso – 5/10

Qualified: 21st | Race: 19th

Fernando Alonso had endured another anonymous weekend as Aston Martin’s struggles continued. He had treated the Belgian GP as a data-gathering exercise ahead of Aston Martin’s major upgrade package, rather than a weekend where he could extract a meaningful result. The veteran had been right to be frustrated, but he had remained focused and professional while waiting for the car to show its true potential. Fingers crossed for Hungary and beyond.

Lance Stroll – 5/10

Qualified: 22nd | Race: Did not finish

Stroll endured another anonymous afternoon at Spa, spending most of the race circulating with only Fernando Alonso for company after the alternative strategies unfolded around him. He managed a clean race initially but was then hit by energy management problems before gearbox issues ultimately forced his retirement. Given Aston Martin’s struggles there was little opportunity to impress, but there was also little evidence of extracting more than the car offered.

Liam Lawson – 5/10

Qualified: 11th | Race: 12th

A promising opening lap quickly descended into energy management and power unit issues. Liam Lawson also suffered contact damage, but the bigger concern had been the lack of deployment performance after his stop. His cause was not helped by not having the latest spec upgrades available, as teammate Arvid Lindblad did.

Arvid Lindblad – 8/10

Qualified: 8th | Race: 9th

Arvid Lindblad delivered another mature midfield performance at the Belgian GP, qualifying strongly and converting that pace into ninth place – though he missed out on a better result through the timing of the VSC. He showed good race management despite after losing out at the start due to ERS deployment issues, then calmly reclaimed the position from Liam Lawson rather than forcing the issue. The frustration over the lost P8 was fair, especially given he boasted the Racing Bulls upgrade.

Nico Hulkenberg – 6/10

Qualified: 14th | Race: 13th

With the Audi lacking the straight-line performance needed to exploit Spa’s long sections, it left Nico Hulkenberg vulnerable once he was trapped in traffic. Though he qualified 14th and finished 13th, but the bigger issue was that he never had the tools to convert his pace into a meaningful result, particularly after the VSC timing failed to give him the clear air he needed. He managed the race sensibly and avoided mistakes, but this was a case where the machinery limited his opportunities rather than a standout driver performance.

Gabriel Bortoleto – 8/10

Qualified: 9th | Race: 8th

A mature, high-quality drive at Spa, Gabriel Bortoleto maximised Audi’s strategy and converted a long first stint into a strong points finish in eighth. He had to defend for 25 laps against Arvid Lindblad, using the car’s strengths through the middle sector to protected against its vulnerabilities on the straights. The result was helped by the VSC timing, but Bortoleto had still extracted everything and looked increasingly comfortable against his midfield rivals.

Oliver Bearman – 6/10

Qualified: 16th | Race: 14th

Bearman’s race was compromised on the opening lap by a gearbox issue that left him stuck in fourth gear, before contact with Esteban Ocon caused a puncture. Despite those setbacks, he recovered well and matched Nico Hülkenberg’s pace over the final stint, showing Haas has made progress since Silverstone. Bearman extracted everything available from a damaged race and deserved more than the result gave him.

Esteban Ocon – 5/10

Qualified: 18th | Race: 17th

Esteban Ocon endured another difficult weekend, qualifying poorly and never looking like he had the machinery to recover at Spa. He managed the opening-lap chaos sensibly and avoided major damage, but the race was more about surviving than extracting a result. His spoke post-race of a huge straight-line deficit and a car balance problem, though a driver of his experience needs to find more when opportunities appear.

Pierre Gasly – 5/10

Qualified: 12th | Race: 11th

Gasly recovered a couple of places early and was unfortunate that a slow pit stop cost him the chance to emerge ahead of Liam Lawson and Arvid Lindblad. He also lost out in a three-wide battle that ultimately left him outside the points in 11th. His drive was tidy enough, but his teammate proved the Alpine was capable of a points finish.

Franco Colapinto – 8/10

Qualified: 13th | Race: 10th

Colapinto delivered a strong recovery drive at Spa, maximising what was available from a car that lacked straight-line performance. He had managed the race well after the safety car disrupted his progress and had kept Gasly behind through smart positioning, despite losing significant time on the straights. Finishing tenth was a solid result given his car’s limitations, and he showed the aggression and race craft needed to extract points when opportunities appeared.

Sergio Perez – NA

Qualified: 20th | Race: Did not finish

Sergio Perez never had the pace to challenge throughout the Belgian Grand Prix, but he at least tried to salvage something by opting for an offset strategy when an early stop would have left him mirroring the cars around him. He reported a persistent straight-line speed deficit, an early deployment issue and eventually retired with a suspension failure after believing he had suffered a puncture, capping another troubled weekend for Cadillac.

Valtteri Bottas – 5/10

Qualified: 19th | Race: 18th

Bottas delivered a useful but unspectacular Spa race, extracting data from a difficult package rather than producing a standout result. His Cadillac had poor high-speed load and tyre management and he had spent much of the afternoon managing the consequences.

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