Oscar Piastri tops sole Belgian GP practice session

McLaren’s Oscar Piastri set the fastest time during the sole practice session ahead of Formula 1’s Belgian Grand Prix.

Piastri clocked a time of 1:42.022s at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, which will play host to the third Sprint event of the 2025 campaign.

Piastri finished with an advantage of 0.404s over reigning World Champion Max Verstappen.

Verstappen was rapid through the first and third sectors but lost the majority of his time in the corner-heavy middle sector of the lap as he struggled with mid-corner rotation in the RB21.

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Piastri’s primary title rival, McLaren team-mate Lando Norris, was third-best.

Norris went wide through the gravel exiting Stavelot on his first push lap on Soft tyres, leaving him down at the foot of the top 10, but he unearthed gains on his final push lap to slot into third.

Mercedes pair George Russell and Kimi Antonelli opted for divergent strategies compared to their opponents, opting to use the Medium tyres rather than Softs.

Russell was fourth, with Antonelli sixth, either side of Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, who had his team-mate Lewis Hamilton in seventh position.

Aston Martin enjoyed a strong session with Lance Stroll and Fernando Alonso, who trialled the team’s new front wing, eighth and ninth respectively.

Isack Hadjar rounded out the top 10 for Racing Bulls, in front of Williams pair Carlos Sainz – who had a delayed start due to a fuel system issue – and Alex Albon.

Sauber continued its encouraging form, with Gabriel Bortoleto and Nico Hulkenberg 13^th and 14^th respectively, while Liam Lawson was 15^th for Racing Bulls.

Esteban Ocon was the lead Haas driver in 16^th place as team-mate Oliver Bearman caused the sole yellow flag of the session when he slid wide through the gravel at Stavelot on his push lap.

The error left Bearman last of the 20 participants.

Alpine had a low-key session, with Pierre Gasly 17^th and Franco Colapinto 19^th, while Yuki Tsunoda’s struggles at Red Bull showed little signs of abating as he finished in 18^th place, two seconds down on Verstappen.