Kimi Raikkonen celebrated the extension of his contract with Ferrari by topping the Belgian Grand Prix timesheet on Friday mornings first practice session.
The Finn clocked in with 1:45.502, just edging out Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton and team mate Sebastian Vettel in a sunny and dry session.
Raikkonen's fastest lap was achieved on the ultra-soft Pirelli compound while Hamilton, just 0.053s adrift was set on the soft tyre, making the Brit's performance all that more impressive.
Red Bull Racing duo Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappen rounded out the top five while Valtteri Bottas ended his morning in P6 after a slight mishap at the exit of Fagnes when the W08 brushed the barrier, subsequently requiring minor repairs.
The same couldn't be said for Felipe Massa's Williams however. The Brazilian lost the rear end at the exit of Les Combes, wiping off the right corner of his FW40 and putting his afternoon free practice session in jeopardy as the team contemplated a chassis change.
Carlos Sainz and Dany Kvyat both put Toro Rosso in the top ten along with Esteban Ocon's Force India and Stoffel Vandoorne's McLaren.
| Pos | Driver | Team | Time | Gap | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kimi Räikkönen | Ferrari | 1:45.502s | 13 | |
| 2 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 1:45.555s | + 0.053s | 19 |
| 3 | Sebastian Vettel | Ferrari | 1:45.647s | + 0.145s | 13 |
| 4 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | 1:46.302s | + 0.800s | 18 |
| 5 | Daniel Ricciardo | Red Bull | 1:46.352s | + 0.850s | 22 |
| 6 | Valtteri Bottas | Mercedes | 1:46.424s | + 0.922s | 20 |
| 7 | Carlos Sainz | Toro Rosso | 1:47.446s | + 1.944s | 22 |
| 8 | Esteban Ocon | Force India | 1:47.670s | + 2.168s | 27 |
| 9 | Daniil Kvyat | Toro Rosso | 1:47.851s | + 2.349s | 20 |
| 10 | Stoffel Vandoorne | McLaren | 1:47.865s | + 2.363s | 18 |
| 11 | Jolyon Palmer | Renault | 1:47.930s | + 2.428s | 14 |
| 12 | Nico Hülkenberg | Renault | 1:48.037s | + 2.535s | 15 |
| 13 | Fernando Alonso | McLaren | 1:48.252s | + 2.750s | 18 |
| 14 | Sergio Pérez | Force India | 1:48.452s | + 2.950s | 19 |
| 15 | Lance Stroll | Williams | 1:48.541s | + 3.039s | 24 |
| 16 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas | 1:48.615s | + 3.113s | 20 |
| 17 | Romain Grosjean | Haas | 1:48.626s | + 3.124s | 20 |
| 18 | Marcus Ericsson | Sauber | 1:50.160s | + 4.658s | 21 |
| 19 | Pascal Wehrlein | Sauber | 1:51.263s | + 5.761s | 13 |
| 20 | Felipe Massa | Williams | 3 |
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