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F1 Today | McLaren fight back at Spa, Marko says problems are 'sorted'
It was an eventful day at the Belgian Grand Prix. The day began with Alpine announcing they will be making changes to their team's leadership, and also announced they will stop developing their 2026 engine. Then, Max Verstappen and Lando Norris topped one-one session each. Then Helmut Marko himself explained that Max Verstappen was able to resolve his issues with the team. Read about the most important events of Formula 1 here!
What happened on track?
It was Max Verstappen who began FP1 strong at the Spa-Francorchamps circuit. The Dutchman's lap time was a 1:43.372, and he finished more than half a second ahead of Oscar Piastri. Then, McLaren were able to once again claim a one-two finish, this time in FP2. Both Lando Norris and Piastri finished ahead of Verstappen. The Dutchman's gap to Norris was two tenths. You can read our FP1 report and our FP2 report here.
While Verstappen will have a ten-place grid penalty on Sunday, Lando Norris was also not at all happy with his car in Belgium. Mercedes also had a difficult day on Friday.
Helmut Marko talks exclusively to GPBlog
Following the two practice sessions, Red Bull Racing advisor Helmut Marko talked to GPblog about the Austrian team's day in Belgium. After Verstappen and Sergio Perez finished in P3 and P9 respectively in FP2, Marko does not expect a straightforward Sunday for the Dutchman. However, he also confirmed that the issues between Max Verstappen and the team have been sorted following the Hungarian GP.
Changes at Alpine announced
A year after Alpine announced changes at the Belgian GP, history repeated itself in 2024. Bruno Famin will step down following the weekend at Spa. Famin has also then announced that Alpine will not compete with their own engine after the 2026 regulation changes.
What happened to Alpine during the last year and how can they still come out on top following this change? You can find out in our column.
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6 September 2024
