Kimi Antonelli has exposed Max Verstappen’s ‘weakness’ at the Belgian Grand Prix

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Red Bull’s Max Verstappen caught the eye after topping FP1 at the 2026 Belgian Grand Prix on Friday, but his pace would not mask his problems around Spa-Francorchamps.

Verstappen seemed to show early on as F1 hit the Ardennes forest that Red Bull abandoning their Macarena rear wing for one weekend only might not hold him back. The Milton Keynes outfit have taken their rotating rear wing off the RB22 following Verstappen’s recent crashes.

Technical director Pierre Wache was clear after the first day of the Belgian GP weekend that Red Bull intend to bring the Macarena rear wing back next week at the Hungarian Grand Prix. Wache says Red Bull have noticed a “mechanical problem” and a fix should be ready in time.

Kimi Antonelli set the pace in FP2 at the Belgian Grand Prix – What was your main takeaway from Friday at Spa?

Kimi Antonelli fastest in Belgian Grand Prix FP2 after second red flag for Pierre Gasly crash

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Tyre degradation is a ‘weakness’ for Max Verstappen at Spa compared to Kimi Antonelli

Red Bull found the fault after Verstappen spun out of the British Grand Prix, as his Macarena rear wing did not close quickly enough for the downforce to reattach before he turned in for Stowe. Still, taking it off his RB22 did not stop Verstappen from topping FP1 at Spa on Friday.

READ MORE: How to watch the 2026 Belgian Grand Prix, plus the weather forecast for Spa

Mercedes and McLaren responded in the afternoon, with Andrea Kimi Antonelli setting the pace in FP2 ahead of Lando Norris and Verstappen in third place. The bigger concern at Red Bull, though, was the time that Verstappen lost to Antonelli over their race simulation runs.

According to Motorsport.com, Verstappen lost 0.29 seconds a lap to Antonelli in their race simulations during FP2 once corrected for tyre compounds and stint lengths, although fuel loads are always an unknown. Verstappen’s deficit to Antonelli even grew through his stint.

While Verstappen had strong straight-line speed in sectors one and three, he lost time in the technical corners in sector two. But worst of all for the four-time F1 champion, Verstappen’s race simulation proved tyre degradation is a ‘weakness’ for Red Bull compared to Mercedes.

Antonelli only lost 0.078s a lap over the same eight-lap distance that Verstappen completed during his race simulation in FP2, whereas the Red Bull ace lost 0.227s per lap over his stint. The early threat that Verstappen showed he may yet pose simply faded throughout the run.

On top of that, the early pace that Verstappen showed during FP1 did not carry over to FP2 as Antonelli set the pace at the Belgian GP. The Mercedes racer rose to the top of the order with a 1:45.944 lap, to pip McLaren’s Norris by 0.190s and Red Bull’s Verstappen by 0.472s.

Verstappen’s deficit to Antonelli throughout a stint could also grow come Sunday’s race, as a red flag for gravel and especially the red flag stoppage for Pierre Gasly’s crash in FP2 at Spa interrupted the most relevant practice session at the Belgian GP during the race simulations.

Red Bull will hope the data they gathered this Friday can now be used to refine Verstappen’s set-up ahead of qualifying to take the fight to Antonelli over a single lap. But Mercedes may not fear Antonelli potentially even starting behind Verstappen, given his superior race pace.