July 21, 2026
McLaren believes Oscar Piastri’s Spa deficit to Lando Norris may have been shaped less by driving and more by power-unit logic, especially on the straight before the Bus Stop. It is a reminder that modern F1 pace can be hidden in the software.
Oscar Piastri is concerned the Belgian GP stewards may have set a precedent on “crowding” at Spa, a ruling that could influence how drivers judge space and wheel-to-wheel risks in future fights.
Spa did more than deliver a result: it exposed a serious problem for one title contender and highlighted another driver’s standout execution. The real takeaways are in the margins and in what the weekend revealed about the field.
A year after a bruising Spa weekend, Kimi Antonelli returned to Belgium and won his first Belgian Grand Prix. Mercedes sees the change as real, pointing to better racecraft, more composure and cleaner execution.
Red Bull has taken Mercedes talent scout Gwen Lagrue, who helped discover Kimi Antonelli. It’s a reminder that F1’s driver-development war is fought long before anyone reaches the grid.
