Podium and double top-6 finish for Red Bull at Belgian Grand Prix

Red Bull picked up a haul of points from the Belgian Grand Prix at Spa-Francorchamps as Max Verstappen finished third and teammate Isack Hadjar finished sixth.

Although Verstappen was unable to convert second on the grid to either a win or second, the race was nonetheless Verstappen’s third podium of 2026, to go with silverware at the races in Canada and Austria. The podium was also a noteworthy milestone in the history of Red Bull as it represented the team’s 300th podium.

Meanwhile, teammate Hadjar was able to recover from starting 21st due to engine penalties to finish 6th, in the process gaining Red Bull a double points finish.

The results see Verstappen jump up to 91 points for the 2026 F1 season, with the Dutchman 7th but one point behind Oscar Piastri directly above. Meanwhile, teammate Hadjar remains 8th, with the Frenchman on 60 points.

Red Bull remain 4th in the Constructor’s Championship and still chasing their first win of 2026. The Milton Keynes-based team have 151 points after the opening 10 races of the season, with the team 44 points behind 3rd place McLaren and 90 ahead of 5th place Alpine.

Verstappen had begun at Spa from second, with the Dutchman hoping to add to 3 prior race wins at the track in the country of his birth.

Initially, it was a strong start as Verstappen got past race leader Andrea Kimi Antonelli, but Antonelli would sweep back past and would take Charles Leclerc through with him.

The race was then neutralised when a safety car was deployed after a crash between Lewis Hamilton and George Russell left the latter in the gravel and out of the race.

Red Bull duly opted to take something of a strategy gamble with Hadjar, choosing to box him on each of the first two laps behind the safety car to fulfil the mandatory rule for running both compounds and keeping him on hard tyres for as long as possible.

On the restart, both Red Bulls would be on the move. Verstappen got past Leclerc to take back second place, while having rejoined at the rear, Hadjar began to go on the move, getting past the backmarkers and getting into the points positions by the quarter-race mark.

Verstappen opted to go early in his pit-stop, making it at the start of lap 17. But a few laps later, a virtual safety car for debris on the track allowed Leclerc to pit and come back out ahead of Verstappen.

While the Red Bull got past Lando Norris, who was on fading tyres, third quickly became the limit of the Dutchman’s ambition with Antonelli and Leclerc comfortably ahead. In turn, however, Verstappen was able to get the distance to stay ahead of Hamilton and Oscar Piastri to take a podium finish.

As for Hadjar, he opted to box again during the virtual safety car and was able to stick the landing. While a slow stop for Norris helped, the Frenchman nonetheless stayed comfortably clear of Norris to take a top-6 finish for the 6th race in a row.

Red Bull have a quick turnaround for the next round, with F1 having its final race before the summer break in Budapest for next weekend’s Hungarian Grand Prix.