Scuderia Ferrari German driver Sebastian Vettel kicked off Formula 1’s return by being the quickest driver in FP1 at the iconic Spa circuit. Seb set a 1:44.358 on soft tyres to finish one tenth ahead of Max Verstappen in the Red Bull, with Lewis Hamilton, Kimi Raikkonen, and Valtteri Bottas all three tenths behind. Promising signs for Ferrari after introducing their new engine upgrade, though one suspects we haven’t seen the full potential of Mercedes’ power boost.
Daniel Ricciardo rounded off the top six, finishing 1.2 seconds off the pace but only managing to post two timed laps because of an issue discovered with his Renault engine. Both Racing Point Force India drivers, Esteban Ocon and Sergio Perez, finished in the top 10, while Lando Norris was down in P17 on his first FP1 appearance for McLaren. The weather is expected to be unsettled throughout the Belgian Grand Prix weekend, but the sun was poking out as the lights went green for the first time since the summer break.
Just as the session got underway, confirmation came from Mercedes that they have new-spec engines in both cars. Hamilton has a new engine, turbo and MGU-H. Bottas has a completely new unit and that means he will fall to the back of Sunday’s grid due to penalties. Customer teams also have the new engine. The Finn was top of the timesheet after the first 30 minutes of running with a 1:44.988 set on supersoft tyres, yet there were spots of rain falling just to keep everyone on their toes.
The key times from the first practice session in Belgium.
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