Oscar Piastri claimed top spot in Free Practice 1 for the Belgian Grand Prix as he finished four tenths clear of Max Verstappen, with McLaren team mate Lando Norris a further tenth back in third.
Fresh from his maiden Formula 1 podium at the previous round, Nico Hulkenberg led a gaggle of cars out of the pit lane as soon as the lights turned green with drivers and teams keen to make the most of the single one-hour practice session ahead of Sprint Qualifying this afternoon.
Almost immediately Carlos Sainz suffered problems in his Williams, the Spaniard reporting “I cannot accelerate, it’s just limp home mode” as he crawled back round to the pits, while Lance Stroll also reported an issue with his Aston Martin after the installation lap and returned to the garage.
Out on track, Verstappen set the initial benchmark after the first set of runs with a 1m 45.545s on the medium tyre, Red Bull having brought a substantial upgrade package to Belgium this weekend, which includes a new cooling system and front suspension.
Drivers immediately began to push the limits, Alex Albon dipping the wheels of his Williams in the gravel at Malmedy and running wide at Les Combes, with Lewis Hamilton’s Ferrari jumping the kerb at the top of Eau Rouge and also running deep at Les Combes.
Drivers’ Championship leader Piastri became the first driver to dip below the 1m 45s barrier, posting a 1m 44.979s on the hard Pirelli compound, before Verstappen jumped back to the top approaching the 15-minute mark with a 1m 44.236s, still on the mediums.
F1 rookies Kimi Antonelli and Franco Colapinto both experienced lock-ups at La Source in separate incidents, the Mercedes driver running so deep on entry as to clip the edge of the gravel trap as both rejoined the circuit, before Kick Sauber’s Gabriel Bortoleto was the next driver to exceed track limits after running wide at the final chicane.
Charles Leclerc moved to the top of the leaderboard with a 1m 44.148s on the hard tyre despite having the distraction of team mate Hamilton and Bortoleto running at a reduced pace at the top of Eau Rouge.
Colapinto became the first driver to use a set of Pirelli’s soft tyre with 25 minutes remaining, moving up to eighth on a 1m 44.847s, before Stroll, who had changed seats earlier in the session, moved to the top on a 1m 43.112s approaching the 10-minute mark.
A flurry of Qualifying simulations followed, with Piastri registering a 1m 42.123s before lowering that to a 1m 42.022s with his final run that would finish as the session’s fastest lap.
Verstappen finished 0.404s further back, showing impressive speed in the opening sector before losing out in the middle segment of the lap.
Norris claimed third having run wide at Stavelot on his first flying lap with the soft tyres, as Mercedes’ George Russell was fourth from Leclerc and team mate Antonelli.
Seven-time World Champion Hamilton took seventh, just over a second behind Piastri, as the Aston Martin cars, which feature upgrades this weekend, of Stroll and Fernando Alonso finished ahead of Racing Bulls’ Isack Hadjar, who completed the top 10.
Sainz, who got back out on track in the second half of the session after a fuel issue was 11th from Bortoleto, Hulkenberg and the second Racing Bulls of Liam Lawson.
Haas’ Esteban Ocon, Alpine’s Pierre Gasly, the second Red Bull of Yuki Tsunoda, Colapinto (Alpine) and Oliver Bearman (Haas) completed the order, with drivers and teams set to return to the track for Sprint Qualifying at 1630 local time this afternoon.
Source link
