Verstappen dominates FP1 from Piastri and Albon in Belgium
Max Verstappen set a blistering pace during the first practice session ahead of the Belgian Grand Prix, clocking in half a second faster than his nearest competitor, Oscar Piastri. The weekend looks challenging for the Dutchman as he faces a 10-place grid drop due to a new power unit.
George Russell kicked off the session as he led several cars onto the track under dry conditions at 1330 local time. Early drama ensued when Daniel Ricciardo experienced a spin at La Source, narrowly avoiding the barriers.
Esteban Ocon was called back to the pits shortly after his initial outing. The Alpine team quickly hoisted his car onto the jacks, diagnosing a suspected water leak. Notably, the squad is running a special Deadpool & Wolverine livery this weekend.
Verstappen initially set a benchmark on hard tyres with a lap time of 1m 44.550s, followed by Mercedes' Russell and Lewis Hamilton. The Silver Arrows are hoping for cooler conditions to suit the characteristics of their W15.
After a mid-session lull, several drivers switched to soft tyres to clock fast laps. Russell momentarily topped the leaderboard, but Verstappen reclaimed the lead by eight-tenths of a second.
Off the track, it was confirmed that both Verstappen and Yuki Tsunoda would face grid penalties for taking on new power unit components. Despite this, Verstappen's FP1 performance remained untouchable, while his teammate Sergio Perez reported struggles with his RB20 over team radio.
Fernando Alonso also expressed concerns over team radio, asking his Aston Martin engineer, “Is the engine okay? How can we be slower in the first sector?" Conversely, Verstappen's session was untroubled, his final effort clocking in at 1m 43.372s.
This impressive lap placed Verstappen half a second ahead of Piastri in the McLaren, with Alex Albon securing an impressive third for Williams. Russell and Hamilton placed fourth and fifth respectively for Mercedes, with Charles Leclerc taking sixth in the Ferrari.
Read next ❯ Ferrari to reveal Hamilton's debut F1 car on February 19 at MaranelloPerez slotted into seventh amid a string of challenging races, followed by Lando Norris in the McLaren, Carlos Sainz in the Ferrari, and Lance Stroll in the Aston Martin to round out the top ten.
Pierre Gasly secured 11th for Alpine, followed by Alonso, Ricciardo, Valtteri Bottas in the Kick Sauber, and Logan Sargeant in the Williams, filling positions 12th to 15th.
Tsunoda's RB finished 16th, while the Haas duo of Nico Hulkenberg and Kevin Magnussen ended the session in 17th and 18th. Zhou Guanyu in the Kick Sauber took 19th, with Ocon unable to return to action due to reliability issues.
With FP1 wrapped up, teams and drivers will now regroup and debrief before gearing up for the second practice session.
