It’s time for the 2023 Belgian Grand Prix from a wet Spa-Francorchamps. Belgium is usually the first race after the summer break, but this year it’s the last Grand Prix before the everyone goes on their holidays.
There’s no time for rest yet though as it’s also a Sprint weekend, so Qualifying takes place later today, with the Sprint Shootout and Sprint Race tomorrow.
The big news this morning was that Max Verstappen faces a five-place grid drop for Sunday’s Grand Prix. Red Bull have installed a fifth gearbox of the season in the championship leader’s RB19, with only four permitted for the Formula 1 season. That means Max Verstappen can start no higher than sixth on Sunday, with five positions to be added to wherever he qualifies this afternoon.
Spa-Francorchamps offers plenty of overtaking opportunities for the Dutchman to overcome that penalty and extend his winning streak on Sunday though – and the Red Bull man proved that last year as he came from 14th on the grid to win dominantly.
Away we went for Practice One in the rain as Alex Albon ventured onto the track on the intermediate tyres. Lewis Hamilton was heading out for his first exploratory lap of the day on the full wet tyres and it is worth pointing out that Mercedes have a fairly hefty upgrade this weekend in Belgium. Alex Albon, Logan Sargeant, Yuki Tsunoda, Valtteri Bottas, Daniel Ricciardo, Zhou Guanyu, Nico Hulkenberg, Kevin Magnussen and Lance Stroll were the other drivers out there.
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During the first 15 minutes, the heavy rain stopped anyone from going out there as there was high risk of an incident for very little reward. Replays showed Yuki Tsunoda had a big slide going through Eau Rouge and was forced to cut the corner in order to avoid spinning.
Carlos Sainz had had enough of waiting around in the garage: the Ferrari driver headed out for the first time today and was the only driver on track after 18 minutes as the rain continued to fall. Soon after, Lando Norris joined his former team-mate on the circuit.
The FIA confirmed this practice session would not set the grid for Sunday’s race should this afternoon’s qualifying session be cancelled due to the weather.
The governing body also said having a qualifying session for Sunday’s race will be a priority and other sessions of this Sprint weekend will be cancelled or rescheduled in order to try and ensure main qualifying can take place.
The FIA explained: “We can confirm that the teams have been informed that Free Practice will not be used to set the grid for either the Sprint or the Grand Prix this weekend. This has been done to ensure that teams do not treat the first session of the weekend as a competitive session. While the situation regarding the weather is constantly evolving, the priority will be to run a qualifying session for the Grand Prix. Other sessions may be cancelled or rescheduled to facilitate this, and if it is impossible to run a qualifying then the grid will be set by championship order.”
With 36 minutes until the end of FP1, Pierre Gasly locked up at the Bus Stop chicane on the intermediates. He came to a half before hitting the barriers and reversed back onto the circuit safely. Midway through the session, Carlos Sainz was quickest from Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris. Those three drivers were on the intermediates, which were definitely quicker than the wets in these conditions. A few moments later, Logan Sargeant brought out the Red Flag after hitting the barriers at the end of the Kemmel Straight. The Williams driver tried to turn right at the end of the straight but his car doesn’t respond and he goes straight on into the barriers.
Unsure if that was a car failure or aquaplaning but not much Sargeant could do there.
The light was green at the end of the pit lane as the rain seriously started to come down now, with 20 minutes to go.
Here came Sergio Perez and Max Verstappen on the intermediates. The Dutchman had done just one out lap prior to this run. But it was just exploratory laps for the two Red Bulls on the intermediate tyres as both Sergio Perez and Max Verstappen headed straight back into the pits. The Dutchman had a bit of a lock up on his lap, replays showed. All the drivers were back in their garages and Ted Kravitz reported that Alpine decided they were done for this session.
We could see some other drivers head out in the final minute of the session in order to do a practice start at the end of the first free practice session at the 7.004-kilometre Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps in Stavelot. The two Ferrari cars, Haas, Alfa Romeos and Lewis Hamilton were tiptoeing around Spa in the final moments of FP1, so they can do a practice start.
The drivers who did their practice starts were back in the pit lane. Charles Leclerc locked up at the final chicane but carries on and it was his Maranello teammate Carlos Sainz who ended up quickest in the one and only practice session.
Results from Friday practice at the Belgian Grand Prix, Round 12 of the F1 2023 world championship.
| F1 | ||||
| POS | DRIVER | NAT. | TEAM | TIME |
| 1 | Carlos Sainz | ESP | Ferrari | 2m03.207s |
| 2 | Oscar Piastri | AUS | McLaren | 2m03.792s |
| 3 | Lando Norris | GBR | McLaren | 2m04.484s |
| 4 | Charles Leclerc | MON | Ferrari | 2m08.148s |
| 5 | Sergio Perez | MEX | Red Bull | 2m08.240s |
| 6 | Alex Albon | THA | Williams | 2m08.394s |
| 7 | Yuki Tsunoda | JPN | AlphaTauri | 2m09.067s |
| 8 | Kevin Magnussen | DEN | Haas | 2m09.229s |
| 9 | Daniel Ricciardo | AUS | AlphaTauri | 2m09.319s |
| 10 | Nico Hulkenberg | GER | Haas F1 | 2m10.042s |
| 11 | Fernando Alonso | ESP | Aston Martin | 2m10.283s |
| 12 | Lewis Hamilton | GBR | Mercedes | 2m10.299s |
| 13 | George Russell | GBR | Mercedes | 2m10.475s |
| 14 | Valtteri Bottas | FIN | Alfa Romeo | 2m12.085s |
| 15 | Zhou Guanyu | CHN | Alfa Romeo | 2m14.002s |
| 16 | Logan Sargeant | USA | Williams | No Time Set |
| 17 | Lance Stroll | CAN | Aston Martin | No Time Set |
| 18 | Pierre Gasly | FRA | Alpine | No Time Set |
| 19 | Esteban Ocon | FRA | Alpine | No Time Set |
| 20 | Max Verstappen | NED | Red Bull | No Time Set |
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