F1 LIVE | Bottas to join Cadillac for 2026, Norris claims stunning pole at Spa

Max Verstappen is enduring a very difficult season by his lofty standards, as the Red Bull driver has only taken two victories this season.

The Dutchman managed to win at Imola and he wrestled victory away from both McLaren drivers at Suzuka in Japan.

Verstappen's race engineer, Gianpiero Lambiase, has been integral to the Dutchman's four world championships over the past few years as the pair built a great relationship.

This has been very important, particularly when races haven't got as they would've liked as communication is vital.

Lambiase isn't at the Belgian Grand Prix this weekend due to personal reasons and is being replaced by Simon Rennie.

This change within the Red Bull team didn't seem to slow Verstappen down too much on Friday as he drove to second place in Sprint Qualifying.

It was an impressive result as McLaren has been significantly quicker than Red Bull for much of the season.

The driver market is in full swing as Formula 1's drivers aim to secure the best seal they can for 2026, coinciding with the new regulations being introduced.

Mercedes has a talented lineup of George Russell and rookie Andrea Kimi Antonelli, but neither of them is confirmed for 2026.

Mercedes executive Christoph Sagemuller spoke about four-time world champion Verstappen in an interview. The Mercedes-AMG Head of Motorsport told Autosport Web: "he's a good driver, and Mercedes-AMG is always looking for good drivers.

"We now have great drivers at Mercedes-AMG. Well, let's see how it goes," Sagemuller finally concluded.