Red Bull’s Max Verstappen topped the standings in the first practice session for the Formula 1 Belgian Grand Prix.
The Dutchman’s time of 1:43.372s couldn’t be bettered and Verstappen remained half a second clear of his nearest competitor, McLaren’s Oscar Piastri, after the opening hour of running at Spa-Francorchamps.
Session Report: Verstappen half a second clear in Belgian GP FP1
Alex Albon was the surprise name in third, lapping the legendary Belgian circuit in 1:44.099s at the wheel of his Williams.
That left Mercedes drivers George Russell and Lewis Hamilton to complete the top five in fourth and fifth respectively.
Sixth went to Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc with the Monegasque driver nine-tenths of a second off of Verstappen’s benchmark.
Nine and a half tenths adrift was Verstappen’s Red Bull team-mate Sergio Perez in seventh with Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz, McLaren’s Lando Norris and Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll completing the top-10.
Review the results from FP1 in full below.
Position | Driver | Team | Time | Gap | Laps | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | 1:43.372 | 23 | ||||
2 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren | 1:43.903 | 0.531 | 23 | |||
3 | Alex Albon | Williams | 1:44.099 | 0.727 | 20 | |||
4 | George Russell | Mercedes | 1:44.225 | 0.853 | 22 | |||
5 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 1:44.279 | 0.907 | 20 | |||
6 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | 1:44.306 | 0.934 | 24 | |||
7 | Sergio Perez | Red Bull | 1:44.329 | 0.957 | 21 | |||
8 | Lando Norris | Aston Martin | 1:44.415 | 1.043 | 23 | |||
9 | Carlos Sainz Jr | Ferrari | 1:44.574 | 1.202 | 23 | |||
10 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin | 1:44.699 | 1.327 | 20 | |||
11 | Pierre Gasly | Alpine | 1:44.833 | 1.461 | 21 | |||
12 | Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin | 1:44.921 | 1.549 | 19 | |||
13 | Daniel Ricciardo | RB | 1:44.950 | 1.578 | 22 | |||
14 | Valtteri Bottas | Sauber | 1:45.155 | 1.783 | 20 | |||
15 | Logan Sargeant | Williams | 1:45.311 | 1.939 | 19 | |||
16 | Yuki Tsunoda | RB | 1:45.564 | 2.192 | 22 | |||
17 | Nico Hulkenberg | Haas | 1:45.645 | 2.273 | 18 | |||
18 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas | 1:45.812 | 2.440 | 18 | |||
19 | Guanyu Zhou | Sauber | 1:45.995 | 2.623 | 22 | |||
20 | Esteban Ocon | Alpine | 1 |