F1 2026, grid places, results, odds, stats and start time
Hopes of back-to-back Belgian Grand Prix podiums aren’t impossible, but look far-fetched for Aussie Oscar Piastri, who struggled for pace during Saturday’s qualifying session after suffering mechanical issues earlier in the weekend.
The McLaren garage was a flurry of orange shirts and concerned faces on Friday as engineers rushed to fix a hydraulic leak at the end of FP1, which required a gearbox swap and cost the Australian valuable track time.
At a sun-soaked Spa during Saturday’s qualifying session, Piastri persevered to make Q3, but ultimately didn’t have the pace to challenge for a spot at the front of the grid and qualified seventh, but will move up to sixth due to grid penalties.
When asked what was missing from his side, an honest Piastri had a two-word response.
“Just speed,” he said in his post-race interview.
“It’s not been particularly easy all weekend to be honest, struggling with the balance of the car, but today in particular it’s been a pretty big grind to try and get any lap time out of it, not an easy day, but we will see what we can do tomorrow.”
