Formula 1 returns this week as the McLaren Mastercard Formula 1 Team head to the iconic Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps for Round 10 of the 2026 FIA Formula 1 World Championship. Nestled in the heart of the undulating Ardennes forest, Spa remains a strong favourite for drivers and fans alike, famously demanding the absolute maximum from both car and driver in challenging conditions.

Heading to Spa, the 2026 Belgian Grand Prix promises a fascinating technical battleground, especially regarding power unit exploitation and energy deployment. With even longer straights than Silverstone, managing energy starvation will be critical, likely fuelling highly competitive and exciting overtaking throughout the field.

An interesting area of note is how teams approach the regulations regarding aerodynamic setups. While Spa traditionally demands low-drag packages, modern straight mode dynamics means that teams may now be less incentivised to run smaller wings. Finally, with the ever-present threat of wet weather in Belgium, this weekend could very well stage the first true wet race of the season, introducing an unpredictable variable into how cars race in the present generation of Formula 1.

Recent rounds since Barcelona have underscored a clear objective for the team, which focuses on elevating the MCL40's performance package to be in condition to consistently challenge the front-runners. Therefore, coming off the back of a hard-fought weekend at Silverstone, the team arrives in Belgium fully focused on unlocking the car's absolute potential before a significant upgrade package is introduced for the Hungarian Grand Prix later this month.

As part of the MCL40's development pathway, this weekend will see the introduction of a new rear wing which will be tested and evaluated in Friday's practice sessions at Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps. Both MCL40 race cars will also be fitted with a new ICE unit, the third of the season, supplied by Mercedes AMG High Performance Powertrains that includes some different specifications introduced in order to improve the reliability. These made their debut with the works team at the 2026 Austrian Grand Prix and then with the other two customer teams at Silverstone.

Neil Houldey - Technical Director, Applied Engineering: "Our preparation has been thorough, using extensive simulation work to get ahead of what we know will be a very demanding weekend for energy management. We're arriving at Spa with a new rear wing assembly, an upgrade we've had in the pipeline as part of the car's development pathway. We're confident that this update will add a bit of performance to our car, but we are fully aware that after a difficult British Grand Prix, mainly in terms of pure performance, even this round won't be that easy, so we won't be expecting any big change in terms of competitiveness.

"The Belgian Grand Prix is going to be incredibly challenging from an energy management perspective; it's one of the most energy-starved tracks on the calendar. We anticipate seeing a significant amount of super clip, which will test both the car and the drivers. Furthermore, the forecast looks unpredictable. While wet weather presents its own difficulties, we see it as a valuable opportunity to finally potentially run this car in the wet and understand its behaviour in low-grip conditions, which could provide crucial data for the rest of the season."

Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps

Race laps: 44
Circuit length: 7.004 km/4.352 miles
Total race distance: 308.052 km/191.415 miles
Number of corners: 19 (9 right, 10 left)
Pitloss: +19s
Safety Car L1 Pitloss: +10s
Energy management required: Very High
Allocated tyre compounds: Hard: C2, Medium: C3 & Soft: C4

McLaren Racing Heritage - Belgian Grand Prix

15 wins, 12 Poles, 31 podiums, 9 Fastest Laps

• Most recent win: 2025, Oscar Piastri in the MCL39

• Special race: 2010, Lewis Hamilton's win in the MP4/25

• Standout race: 1990, Ayrton Senna's win in the MP4/5B

Ayrton Senna's 25th F1 victory was his fourth at Spa-Francorchamps, and the third year in a row he had won from Pole at the Ardennes circuit. He was never seriously challenged and, having got away well, led from lights to flag. Gary Wheeler, who was Ayrton's No.2 Mechanic at the time recalls: "We locked out the grid with Ayrton and Gerhard Berger. Prost was in the second row in the Ferrari."

The drama came from the race having to be started three times. At the first, Nigel Mansell's Ferrari was shunted into the barriers at La Source, before Satoru Nakajima and Stefano Modena collided at the top of the hill.

The second attempt to get the 1990 Belgian Grand Prix under way saw a much more serious crash for Minardi's Paolo Barilla, at Eau Rouge. The Italian walked away, but the M190 was in pieces: gearbox separated from chassis, oil leaking onto the track and serious damage done to the barriers. Ayrton kept his cool, and held his lead at the third start, as he had the first two.

"That was one of Ayrton's favourite circuits," remembers Gary Wheeler. "He loved winning in Spa, and he won there quite a lot."

Championship rival Alain Prost had started third for Ferrari, but by Lap 14 had passed the second McLaren of Gerhard Berger and set about chasing down Senna. He had the gap down to under three seconds when the pair both pitted at half-distance. Crucially, McLaren executed a better pit stop than Ferrari, and Senna was able to get back on track ahead of Alessandro Nannini's Benetton. It gave Senna a cushion. He took the gap out to 12s, before cruising to a comfortable victory, eventually crossing the line 3.5s ahead of Prost.