Scuderia Ferrari German driver Sebastian Vettel has topped the opening practice session of the Belgian Grand Prix weekend, leading teammate Charles Leclerc by two-tenths of a second. In keeping with the story here last year, it’s Ferrari who are making the timesheet running. The Italian squad is going in search of its first victory of the season, as it was this event 12 months ago where Sebastian Vettel picked up his last win.
It was not a smooth session for Lewis Hamilton, who missed out on a lot of running following an issue with his throttle pedal, which occurred on the circuit. The Briton was coasting through the middle sector before he found power once more to return to the pits, where he stayed for almost an hour.
However, he was able to get back out onto the circuit and end the session in sixth, behind teammate Valtteri Bottas and 1.3 seconds down on Sebastian Vettel. Both Red Bulls were third and fourth, with Max Verstappen leading his new teammate Alexander Albon, who makes his debut with the energy drink squad this weekend. Just one-tenth split the duo, as the team looks to continue its strong run of momentum that it picked up towards the end of the first half of the season.
Belgian Grand Prix – Here are the complete results from the first practice (FP1) session from Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps:
Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 1:44.574
Charles Leclerc Ferrari +0.214
Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing +0.933
Alex Albon Red Bull Racing +1.010
Valtteri Bottas Mercedes +1.308
Lewis Hamilton Mercedes +1.399
Lance Stroll Racing Point +1.624
Daniel Ricciardo Renault +1.852
Sergio Perez Racing Point +1.859
Carlos Sainz McLaren +1.983
Nico Hulkenberg Renault +2.095
Lando Norris McLaren +2.096
Kimi Raikkonen Alfa Romeo +2.450
Romain Grosjean Haas +2.602
Antonio Giovinazzi Alfa Romeo +2.759
Kevin Magnussen Haas +2.914
Daniil Kvyat Toro Rosso +3.062
Pierre Gasly Toro Rosso +3.394
Nicholas Latifi Williams +4.210
Robert Kubica William +4.392
Leave a Reply