Max Verstappen went quickest of all in the opening practice session for the Belgian Grand Prix, half a second ahead of Oscar Piastri.
The championship leader, who will be starting ten places lower on the grid than he qualifies after a power-unit penalty, set the pace with a 1’43.372 on the soft tyres.
Piastri was second-fastest for McLaren, with Alexander Albon putting his Williams third fastest ahead of the two Mercedes.
Rain during the earlier practice Formula 3 and F2 practice sessions has left the seven kilometre Spa-Francorchamps circuit very slightly damp in the pit lane as the first F1 session of the weekend began. The field were split evenly between those who began the session on the medium tyre compound and those who chose hard.
Despite most of the early top ten being on mediums, Verstappen set the early best time with a 1’44.524 on the hards. That was four tenths quicker than George Russell’s early lap time on mediums, with his Mercedes team mate Lewis Hamilton two tenths slower in third.
Daniel Ricciardo had a very close call with the 24 hour pit wall exiting La Source when he spun his RB, almost rear ending his car into the barriers. There were also early problems for Esteban Ocon in the revised Alpine livery for this weekend. After completing his installation lap, Ocon was confined to his garage for the session as his team investigated a suspected water leak on his car.
Verstappen joined many of his rivals in the mid phase of the session by moving onto the soft compound. He used them to go easily quickest of all with a 1’43.372, seven tenths faster than Oscar Piastri’s McLaren on the same tyres.
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In the final third of the session, all teams focused on long runs with the track conditions remaining dry for the rest of the hour. Verstappen opted for soft tyres before switching to hard tyres, while many of his rivals, like the Mercedes drivers and Charles Leclerc in the Ferrari, focusing on the medium.
The rest of the session completed without incident, with the chequered flag confirming Verstappen at the top of the times, half a second ahead of last weekend’s winner Piastri. Alexander Albon put Williams third fastest, ahead of the two Mercedes of Russell and Hamilton.
Leclerc was sixth ahead of Sergio Perez, Lando Norris and Carlos Sainz Jnr, while Lance Stroll was quicker than team mate Fernando Alonso in tenth.
2024 Belgian Grand Prix first practice result
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