Belgian Grand Prix 2026: How to watch, F1 race and qualifying start times, and Spa weather forecast

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It is time for F1’s annual Spa break as the travelling circus hits the Ardennes Forest for the 2026 Belgian Grand Prix in round 10, so here is everything that you need to know.

The Belgian GP marks the start of a pivotal double-header with the Hungarian GP going into F1’s three-week summer break. Mercedes gem Andrea Kimi Antonelli will also head to Spa-Francorchamps as the F1 drivers’ championship leader, yet the momentum sits with Ferrari.

Charles Leclerc reinforced Ferrari’s emerging status as title contenders last time out with his victory in the British Grand Prix. The win marked the Scuderia’s second victory from the last three rounds, after Lewis Hamilton scored his first win in red in the Barcelona-Catalunya GP.

Antonelli had a race to forget at Silverstone, as well, after his front left wheel cover breaking saw the Italian fall down the order before earning a five-second penalty for exceeding track limits. The 19-year-old ultimately finished in only P15 as his championship lead got slashed.

Spa will offer Mercedes duo Antonelli and George Russell no guarantees for success, either, despite the long straights that make up the Belgian GP venue. Ferrari’s aero package should help their energy recovery at Spa, and possibly avoid the dreaded super clipping this week.

So, with that in mind, F1 Oversteer takes a look at everything that you need to know ahead of the Belgian GP – including the weather forecast, with rain possibly on the radar for Spa…

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When is the 2026 F1 Belgian Grand Prix? Full Spa race weekend schedule

Formula 1 has scheduled the Belgian Grand Prix for round 10 of the 2026 season, with the race weekend taking place on July 17-19. F1 has also scheduled the Belgian GP to run for a total of just 44 laps owing to Spa-Francorchamps being the longest circuit on the calendar.

How to watch the 2026 F1 Belgian Grand Prix live on TV in the UK, and where to find free highlights

Sky Sports will broadcast its exclusive coverage of the 2026 F1 Belgian Grand Prix live on TV in the UK, with Channel 4 returning to only showing highlights after qualifying and the race.

READ MORE: Leclerc wins the 2026 British GP under the safety car after Verstappen’s crash

Channel 4 had shown the British Grand Prix weekend live on TV in the UK as part of its deal with Sky Sports. But the event at Silverstone is the only round that Channel 4 can show live.

Highlights of qualifying and the Belgian Grand Prix will also be accessible online through F1 and Sky Sports’ official YouTube channels, plus F1, Sky Sports and Channel 4’s websites.

What is the weather forecast for the 2026 F1 Belgian Grand Prix at Spa?

Formula 1 drivers are bracing themselves for rain ahead of the 2026 Belgian Grand Prix, as the pre-event forecast for Spa this weekend suggests Europe’s heatwave could be about to end and deliver wet conditions in at least practice on Friday – if not further into the event.

Ahead of the race weekend, the forecast for the Belgian GP shows a 50% chance of rain for FP1 and a 30% chance for FP2 on Friday, amid temperatures of 22-23°C. There is only a 10-20% chance of rain expected for FP3 on Saturday, albeit then holding at 20% for qualifying.

Saturday’s forecast also suggests cooler conditions than on Friday, with FP3 and qualifying likely to take place in ambient conditions of 18°C and 20°C respectively. The forecast also shows even cooler conditions for Sunday’s Belgian GP at 16°C, with a 10% chance of rain.

But as always when F1 goes to Spa, the Ardennes forest often delivers its own microclimate, which means the teams will rarely rely solely on the forecast for the Belgian GP and instead react to the conditions as they unfold, as it may rain on one part of the track and not the rest.

Where is the 2026 F1 Belgian Grand Prix held?

Spa-Francorchamps has been F1’s spiritual home in Belgium since the race first appeared on the inaugural calendar back in 1950. It is also set to remain a part of the calendar until 2031, but the Belgian GP will soon only become a rotational race with the Barcelona-Catalunya GP.

This term marks the Belgian GP’s final time as a permanent round on F1’s calendar, with Spa only guaranteed to stage future editions of the event in 2027, 2029 and 2031. The Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya is set to appear on the calendar every other year through at least 2032.

Spa is famous for being the longest track on F1’s calendar, despite it having been redesigned multiple times over the years from its early layout that passed through the nearby villages. It is currently a 7.004km (4.352mi) track, which is why F1 arranges the Belgian GP for 44 laps.

F1’s 2026 regulations should make Spa more of a challenge than it has been in recent years, as well, as drivers will have to carefully manage their battery through the long straights that make up the first and third sectors to ensure that they are not left helpless to a rival’s attack.

Some teams might even sacrifice the middle sector to recharge their batteries, on top of the usual downforce sacrifices they make at Spa to maximise their straight-line speed. But if the forecast changes and the threat of rain rises for race day, teams will face a headache judging whether they should add downforce before qualifying and risk being slow in the Belgian GP.

Teams will regularly adopt low-downforce set-ups for the Belgian GP, despite Spa’s flowing middle sector, to try to ensure that they are quick on the run from La Source to Les Combes via the iconic Eau Rouge, Raidillon and the Kemmel Straight, as well as from Stavelot to the Bus Stop chicane via Blanchimont, as the final sector is largely a flat-out burst in an F1 car.

Who won the last F1 Belgian Grand Prix at Spa in 2025?

McLaren driver Oscar Piastri won the last time that F1 visited Spa for the Belgian Grand Prix in 2025. The Australian survived the threat that his papaya pal Lando Norris posed after the Briton pitted for the C1 hard Pirelli tyres, after the former stopped first for the C3 mediums.

Piastri also started the 2025 Belgian GP weekend well, as he scored pole for the F1 Sprint at Spa last season. But Red Bull racer Max Verstappen overtook Piastri to win the Spa Sprint in 2025, with the Dutchman’s straight-line speed enough to keep the McLaren man in second.

Norris also put his McLaren on pole for the 2025 Belgian GP after beating Piastri in a wet Q3 session at Spa last July. But starting from P2 is often more beneficial given the long run from La Source to Les Combes, and Piastri overtook Norris for the lead on the Kemmel Straight.

Norris adopted a different strategy to try to beat Piastri in the 2025 Belgian GP, which even started in the wet but soon started to dry. It was not enough for the Briton, and he finished 3.415 seconds behind Piastri, as Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc joined them on the podium in P3.