#F1 #BelgianGP #FP3: #Antonelli tops session as @LewisHamilton crashes.

Antonelli Belgian GP FP3 – Championship leader Andrea Kimi Antonelli ended FP3 on top of the time-sheets at the Belgian GP ahead of McLaren’s Lando Norris whilst Max Verstappen completed the top three for Red Bull with Ferrari’s Sir Lewis Hamilton suffering a crash at the session’s end.

Antonelli posted the session-topping benchmark with the C4 red-marked softer compounds with a 1:45.990 and was 0.139 seconds clear of Norris whilst Verstappen was a further 0.148 seconds adrift of the Italian in third.

After a four-minute lull to the beginning of the session, Alpine’s Franco Colapinto was the first out on the medium compounds ahead of Cadillac’s Valtteri Bottas and Sergio Perez who were both on the C4 softer rubber.

Bottas registered the opening benchmark of a 1:52.228, which was beaten by team-mate Perez’s 1:51.969 and was ousted by Colapinto’s 1:49.802.

Red Bull’s Hadjar went even quicker, posting a 1:48.231 with two purple sectors one and two.

Haas’s Oliver Bearman slotted into second with the softer tyres, setting a 1:48.930 as his team-mate Esteban Ocon ended up fourth with a 1:49.822.

Alpine’s Pierre Gasly was next on the C3 mediums and the Frenchman with three personal bests moved into third with a 1:49.035 to be 0.804 off Hadjar.

Arvid Lindblad planed his VCARB racer on top with a 1:48.210 with a purple final sector, but only momentarily as with two purples in sectors one and two his team-mate Liam Lawson went fastest on a 1:47.786 to be 0.424 seconds clear as the session past the 11^th-minute mark.

Piastri with a purple middle sector jumped to second with a 1:48.099 to wound up 0.313 seconds adrift of Lawson’s best time.

Reigning World Champion Lando Norris followed with his flyer and pushed his MCL40 racer to second on the mediums with a 1:47.796 as Hamilton topped the time-sheets with a 1:47.436 to be 0.350 ahead of Lawson with the seven-time world champion on the C4’s.

Hadjar was next and with a purple sector three moved to second in the order to end up 0.071 seconds off Hamilton’s best time with the Frenchman completing his sixth tour on the mediums.

Piastri with the best middle sector jumped to second best to be a slim 0.025 seconds off Hamilton setting a 1:47.461 as Lindblad with the best final sector went fastest posting a 1:47.432 to be 0.094 seconds ahead of the Ferrari driver.

Hamilton on his next flyer with two purples went even quicker – hitting the top of the pile with a 1:46.789 to end up 0.553 seconds ahead of Lindblad.

Leclerc on his first lap on the softs with three personal bests ended up seventh with a 1:47.890 to be over 1.1 seconds off his team-mate Hamilton.

Four-time World Champion Verstappen with three personal bests moved up into second place setting a 1:47.167 to end up 0.378 seconds off Hamilton’s benchmark.

Leclerc was next and with two personal bests slotted into sixth on a 1:47.469 as Red Bull’s Isack Hadjar was seen stalled at the pit-lane exit.

Russell with three personal bests jumped to third overall setting a 1:47.286 to be 0.497 seconds adrift of Hamilton’s best time just past the 25^th-minute mark of proceedings.

Verstappen was next on his flyer and improved his time in second with a 1:46.837 as with three purple sectors Antonelli shot to the head of the pile setting a 1:45.990 to be a huge 0.799 seconds clear of Hamilton.

The drivers still have to bolt on their second set of softs at this stage of proceedings and go for their lowest fuel runs. But as far as the pecking order was, it seemed to be Mercedes from Ferrari and Red Bull, with McLaren half a step back from their rivals.

With less than 25 minutes remaining following his stall at the pit-lane exit, Hadjar emerged on a fresh set of the C4 softer compounds for another run.

Russell with a personal best opening sector moved into fourth place on a 1:47.041 to be 1.051 off his team-mate Antonelli’s best effort as replays showed Hadjar almost came close to making contact with Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll and had to abandon his initial flyer.

Hadjar with three personal bests was up to fifth in the classification posting a 1:47.096 to end up 1.106 seconds adrift of Antonelli’s best time.

Verstappen was next and with a personal best opening sector and best final sector improved to second in the order setting a 1:46.138 as Russell ends up third with a 1:46.357 with three personal best efforts.

Piastri ended up fourth overall and 0.795 seconds off Antonelli whilst with the best middle sector, his team-mate Norris set a 1:46.129 to be 0.139 seconds off the championship leader.

Piastri despite a personal best improvement remained in fifth place as Antonelli was unable to improve on his best lap time.

Hamilton was next and with three personal bests ended up fifth in the order to be 0.392 seconds off Antonelli’s benchmark.

Audi’s Gabriel Bortoleto with three personal bests slotted into eighth on a 1:47.049 to be 1.059 seconds adrift of Antonelli.

Replays showed Leclerc ran a bit too hot into La Source to abandon his hot-lap as Antonelli’s previous lap-time was invalidated due to exceeding track limits.

Leclerc once again aborted his flying lap after encountering traffic.

Leclerc with two personal best sectors moved up into sixth place behind his team-mate Hamilton and posted a 1:46.750.

Hamilton suffered a heavy crash out of the Les Fagnes Chicane and clipped the same barrier as Alpine’s Gasly did yesterday.

Hamilton suffered a wobble out of the Fagnes Chicane and clipped the wall with the rear right tyre, damaging his rear wing and suspension.

The Briton came to a halt in-between Campus and Stavelot.

FP3 ended with Antonelli quickest and in-front of Norris and Verstappen who rounded out the top three.

Russell was fourth and in-front of Ferrari pairing of Hamilton and Leclerc who were fifth and sixth respectively.

Piastri took seventh and ahead of Audi duo Hulkenberg and Bortoleto who held eighth and ninth whilst Hadjar completed the top ten.

You can see the full Formula 1 Moet & Chandon Belgian Grand Prix 2026 Free Practice 3 Results Classification at the link: FORMULA 1 MOËT & CHANDON BELGIAN GRAND PRIX 2026 – PRACTICE 3

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#F1 Moet & Chandon #BelgianGP 2026 Preview. #Formula1 #BelgianGrandPrix