Max Verstappen enjoyed a flying start to his Belgian Grand Prix weekend, the Red Bull charger topping opening practice at Spa and positioning himself at the outset as the driver to beat.
The Dutchman distanced Hungarian GP winner Oscar Piastri by over half a second, while Alex Albon took full advantage of his Williams’ efficiency to claim third in the running order.
Behind the leading trio, George Russell and Lewis Hamilton were fourth and fifth for Mercedes, while Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc was sixth, almost a full second behind Verstappen.
The field took to a dry track when the circuit went green, with only a 30% chance of rain, a rather low percentage given Spa’s typically wet environment.
The results of the upcoming weekend will set the tone for how teams head into the summer break, with Red Bull looking to secure a strong performance to dampen the spirits of their rivals, especially McLaren.
Speaking of team papaya, the Woking-based outfit and Mercedes have reverted this weekend to circuit-specific low-drag wings consistent with Spa’s high-speed profile.
F1 front-running outfits are under the scrutiny of the FIA, with the governing body investigating allegations of flexing front wings on the top cars, with special miniature cameras mounted on the aero elements to monitor their movements.
Verstappen positioned himself at the top the timesheet at the outset on the green track which caught out RB’s Daniel Ricciardo who indulged in a fortunately harmless spin as he accelerated on cold hard tyres out of the La Source hairpin.
Russell and Hamilton slotted in behind Verstappen, but were well adrift, while McLaren’s Piastri and Norris followed thereafter.
Meanwhile, it was an inauspicious start for Alpine, with a suspected water leak sending Esteban Ocon’s A524 – draped in its red and black fierce Deadpool & Wolverine one-off livery - back to its garage after just a single lap.
It’s worth noting that the Frenchman was running an all-new power unit in FP1.
As the session approached its half-way mark, a switch to the soft tyres among the leaders was set to provide a glimpse into the weekend’s potential pecking order.
A blistering fast middle sector by Verstappen ensured a comfortable margin for Verstappen who led Piastri by 0.531s, with a surprising Alex Albon rocketing into third, perhaps with the help of a low fuel load.
The Dutchman’s pace in S2 was indicative of the RB20 running a higher downforce rear wing than its rivals, a luxury Red Bull can afford given their car’s strong straight-line speed.
Over at Ferrari, both Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz continued to optimize the balance of their SF-24, the red cars running among the top-ten but well behind their rivals.
With 15 minutes remaining on the clock, long runs were in order, with a mix of soft and medium rubber on display.
But the session concluded with no further changes at the sharp end of the field, with Verstappen leading Piastri, Albon, Russell, Hamilton and Leclerc who completed the top six, with 0.934s separating the group.
Thereafter followed Perez, who continued to complain about his car’s lack of feel, Norris, Sainz and Aston martin’s Lance Stroll.
The second half of the running order consisted of both Alpines, with Ocon’s water leak issues limiting his time out on the track to a mere installation lap, Alonso, both RBs and Saubers, Logan Sargeant and a pair of Haas.
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