Ferrari endured a frustrating start to the 2026 Belgian Grand Prix weekend after Scuderia was handed two separate fines during Free Practice 2 at Spa-Francorchamps, with both Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc implicated in the same Formula 1 procedural breach.
According to the official stewards' documents issued on July 17, Ferrari failed to physically return electronically returned tires to the appointed tire supplier before the start of FP2 for both Car 16 (Leclerc) and Car 44 (Hamilton). The infringement constitutes a breach of Article B6.4.2 of the FIA F1 Regulations, and in both cases, the team representative acknowledged the breach and attributed it to an oversight.
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As a result, Scuderia Ferrari has been fined €5,000 for each infringement, a combined total of €10,000, making it a costly afternoon of paperwork for the Italian outfit ahead of Sunday's race.
A Busy Day in the Stewards' Room
Ferrari was not the only team to find itself in the stewards' room on the opening day at Spa. It was a particularly active Friday for the officials, with several other drivers and teams also picking up penalties and reprimands.
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Carlos Sainz was handed his first reprimand of the season after crossing the white line at pit entry during FP1. According to the stewards' document, the Williams driver received a very late call from his engineer to enter the pit lane and, having committed to passing the right-hand side of the bollard, was given a counter-instruction to return to the track to recharge energy. In complying with that instruction, he breached Appendix L, Chapter IV, Article 4 of the International Sporting Code. The stewards noted that while the incident was not dangerous, the rule exists to prevent the possibility of an inherently dangerous situation, and the breach was committed on the driver's own admission to avoid a sporting disadvantage.
Nico Hulkenberg, meanwhile, was handed a reprimand for failing to slow under double yellow flags during FP1, his second reprimand of the season. The stewards acknowledged that Hulkenberg had a very limited opportunity to react, having already entered the relevant marshaling sector before the double yellow flag condition was triggered. However, evidence showed that a yellow flag warning was displayed on his steering wheel, and the stewards determined that simply lifting off the throttle was insufficient to meet the expectations of a driver in a double yellow sector. With two reprimands now on his record, the German driver is one away from an automatic grid penalty, a situation Audi will be keen to manage carefully over the remainder of the season.
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Esteban Ocon was also fined €5,000 earlier in the day, a suspended penalty, after arriving late to the Thursday Press Conference. Meanwhile, Lando Norris is already set to start Sunday's race from 10 places back on the grid following McLaren's decision to fit a fourth battery to his car to take advantage of Mercedes HPP reliability updates.
With penalties, fines, and reprimands handed out across multiple teams and drivers before a single qualifying lap has been set, it has been anything but a quiet opening day at the 2026 Belgian Grand Prix.