Follow FP1 for the Belgian Grand Prix LIVE

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Follow live coverage of the first free practice session for this weekend’s Belgian Grand Prix LIVE, with comprehensive as-it-happens coverage from F1i.

After a long summer break, it's time to get Formula One back in action with the 13th round of the 2016 season at one of the truly iconic motor racing circuits of the world - Spa-Francorchamps, nestling deep in the Ardennes forest.

Nico Rosberg arrives at Spa having been overtaken in the driver championships by his Mercedes team mate Lewis Hamilton. Hamilton had a run of success before the summer break just as Rosberg failtered, and now the Briton has a 19 point lead as we embark on the remaining nine races of the year.

But Rosberg might be able to claw back a lot of that lost ground this weekend, as Hamilton will take a hefty grid penalty as a result of taking a sixth new engine of the year. Hamilton will have to find his way through the field, while Rosberg will be focussed on getting pole position and an outright win to maximise the opportunity that has presented itself.

Not that Rosberg is likely to have things all this own way: Red Bull has been making things increasingly difficult for the Mercedes drivers in recent outings, and Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappen will once again be threatening to steal victory if they get a chance.

Ferrari meanwhile appear to have slipped back in the standings, to the frustration of Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen. This weekend will let us know whether the team has found a cure for what ails it and whether Ferrari can once again feature in the battle for the podium.

Meanwhile one team that's been creeping up the standings in recent races is McLaren. Honda have splurged on seven engine upgrade tokens for this weekend for both Fernando Alonso and Jenson Button and it will be interesting to see whether it will enable them to overhaul the likes of Williams, Force India and Toro Rosso in the battle for the midfield.

And this weekend also sees the Formula One debut of Esteban Ocon, who joins Pascal Wehrlein at at Manor after taking over from Rio Haryanto. The French teenager arrives with a lot of expectations on his shoulders, and it will be fascinating to see how he fares.

If that's whetted your appetite, then it all gets started at 10:00 local time (9am BST) for the first 90-minute practice session. We'll be bringing you all the news and information from trackside as it happens on F1i's live page.

Romain Grosjean column: More motivated than ever

Chris Medland's 2016 Belgian Grand Prix preview

How Eric Boullier keeps McLaren on its toes

F1i Classic - Mayhem, monsoon and the mother of all Belgian Grand Prix

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Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.