Rosberg fastest despite Halo as Hamilton penalty confirmed

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Nico Rosberg set the fastest time of FP1 for the Belgian Grand Prix while running the Halo cockpit protection device during the opening practice session.

The German was one of four drivers to test the Halo on Friday morning at Spa-Francorchamps as part of analysis ahead of its planned introduction in 2018. While Daniel Ricciardo, Nico Hulkenberg and Carlos Sainz all completed just one installation lap using the device, Rosberg stayed out for two runs with the Halo on, pushing flat out on supersoft tyres on the second run.

Power unit problem rules Alonso out of FP1

During that time, Rosberg went fastest and ended the session over 0.7s clear of team-mate Lewis Hamilton on a 1:48.348, with Mercedes the only team to set their best times on the supersoft. Hamilton took a new turbocharger and MGU-H ahead of the opening session, leaving him with a 15-place grid penalty this weekend.

Kimi Raikkonen was third fastest for Ferrari, just 0.069s slower than Hamilton despite using the soft tyre, while Sergio Perez was a further 0.127s back in fourth place on the soft tyre. Sebastian Vettel ended the session fifth ahead of the two Red Bulls of Ricciardo and Max Verstappen, while Hulkenberg in seventh was the only other driver within two seconds of Rosberg.

Valtteri Bottas in eighth used the medium tyre, with the Haas of Esteban Gutierrez rounding out the top ten ahead of team-mate Romain Grosjean.

Pirelli also supplied prototype tyres designed to be more robust during contact with kerbs and other objects, with Sainz, Felipe Nasr, Pascal Wehrlein and Kevin Magnussen setting their best times on the prototypes.

Jenson Button was 18th quickest using the upgraded Honda power unit while team-mate Fernando Alonso hit trouble, with McLaren having to change the Spaniard's power unit after discovering a water leak. The problem ruled Alonso out of the session after just three laps, limiting the data the team gained with the new upgrades.

Debutant Esteban Ocon impressed for Manor as he set the 16th fastest time on the soft tyre, finishing a second ahead of team-mate Wehrlein. Ocon was also quicker than Daniil Kvyat and Button in his first session for Manor.

There was one error from Ocon early in the session as the Frenchman overshot his pit box and hit a cone marking where to stop. Manor asked if he did not see his pit crew, to which he replied that he simply braked too late when returning to the pits.

AS IT HAPPENED: Belgian Grand Prix - FP1

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Pos	Driver	Team	Time	Laps
01	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes	1:48.348	27
02	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	1:49.078	25
03	Kimi Raikkonen	Ferrari	1:49.147	24
04	Sergio Perez	Force India	1:49.274	23
05	Sebastian Vettel	Ferrari	1:49.768	19
06	Daniel Ricciardo	Red Bull	1:49.782	24
07	Max Verstappen	Red Bull	1:49.865	24
08	Nico Hulkenberg	Force India	1:50.088	21
09	Valtteri Bottas	Williams	1:50.394	31
10	Esteban Gutierrez	Haas	1:50.583	21
11	Romain Grosjean	Haas	1:50.899	18
12	Felipe Massa	Williams	1:51.122	28
13	Marcus Ericsson	Sauber	1:51.125	16
14	Carlos Sainz	Toro Rosso	1:51.424	17
15	Felipe Nasr	Sauber	1:51.768	19
16	Esteban Ocon	Manor	1:51.787	26
17	Daniil Kvyat	Toro Rosso	1:52.308	19
18	Jenson Button	McLaren	1:52.407	18
19	Pascal Wehrlein	Manor	1:52.837	23
20	Kevin Magnussen	Renault	1:53.053	20
21	Jolyon Palmer	Renault	1:53.089	20
22	Fernando Alonso	McLaren		3

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.