Alpine’s Pierre Gasly caused a red flag with a heavy crash in Friday practice at the Belgian Grand Prix as Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli set out his stall for the weekend with the fastest time.
World Cup 2026
Gasly lost control on the exit of the Fagnes medium-speed chicane in the middle sector and clipped the barrier, tearing off his right rear wheel.
The incident cut short the race-simulation runs in the final part of the session and will lead to a long night for Gasly’s team.
The Frenchman said: “Overall it was a good day of testing. Just need to work on what happened in the P2.
Match Details
“I just had a big snap, lost the car, but it was a huge snap and it took a lot longer to recover and by the time I recovered I was already off the track and could not get back on track.”
Team principal Steve Nielsen added: “A small mistake, which on other tracks would have been fine, but on this track you get punished for it in certain places.”
Antonelli, meanwhile, started the weekend as if he was determined to turn around the decline in his fortunes in which team-mate George Russell has cut his championship lead from 68 points to 25 over the last three races.
Tournament Impact
The 19-year-old Italian was 0.190 seconds quicker than McLaren’s Lando Norris in second place – and a massive 1.285secs quicker than Russell.
“Rears [tyres] felt too cold, sliding a lot,” Russell said over the team radio during the session. “But not 1.2 seconds cold.”
Norris to have 10-place grid penalty in Belgium
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