Verstappen tops Hamilton in first Belgian GP practice

Max Verstappen bested Lewis Hamilton to the fastest time of the opening practice session for the Belgian Grand Prix while the Mercedes drivers languished down the field.

Red Bull Racing rolled out of pit lane with immediate pace, with Verstappen and teammate Isack Hadjar dominating time at the top of the time sheet. The Dutchman’s definitive time of 1m47.070s came just after halfway through the session with his only fast lap on soft tires, beating Hamilton’s eventual best on the same compound by 0.145s.

It was the first time this season an opening practice session has been led by a driver not driving a Ferrari or Mercedes.

The foundation of Red Bull Racing’s speed was in the middle sector, which runs from Les Combes to Stavelot and comprises most of the circuit’s corners. Verstappen was far less strong in the flat-out first and third sectors, being beaten by most other front-running drivers most of the time in these splits. However, Charles Leclerc, who ended the session third and 0.207s off the pace, strung together the quickest second and third sectors, and combining all three of his best sector times would have put him into top spot with a slender 0.052s advantage over Verstappen.

Hadjar in the second Red Bull Racing car was relatively less impressive in the middle sector to end the session fourth and 0.252s slower than his session-topping teammate. The Frenchman was powered by new engine components that will send him to the back of the grid after qualifying.

Oscar Piastri, winner of last year’s Belgian Grand Prix, was fourth, but he was 0.452s off the pace in the quickest McLaren, most of which came in the final sector. The Australian’s session ended early too after the team detected a technical problem that forced him to cruise around the track slowly just to make it back to pit lane, with his engineer warning him that he was at risk of losing hydraulic pressure.

Championship leader Kimi Antonelli was sixth and 0.533s off the pace. He was quicker than Verstappen in the first and third sectors but almost 0.9s slower in the downforce-sensitive middle split.

Lando Norris was seventh and 0.861s adrift. The Briton spent the opening part of the session sporting a variety of aero sensors at the rear of his car as McLaren assessed a new rear wing this weekend before joining the session properly with a set of softs.

George Russell was quickest in the first sector but 0.889s off the pace as the last of the front-runners. The Briton complained early of four-wheel sliding and a general lack of grip.

Arvid Lindblad took his upgraded Racing Bulls car to ninth and 1.164s off the pace. His teammate, Liam Lawson, whose car does not feature the same suite of new parts, was 11th and 0.189s further back. Between them were Audi teammates Gabriel Bortoleto in 10th and Nico Hulkenberg in 12th.

Haas driver Oliver Bearman was 13th ahead of Alex Albon’s Williams and Alpine’s Franco Colapinto. Esteban Ocon followed in the second Haas ahead of Pierre Gasly in the second Alpine.

Cadillac teammates Valtteri Bottas and Sergio Perez were 2.769s and 3.156s off the pace respectively in 18th and 19th.

Carlos Sainz was 20th for Williams and will see the stewards after the session for driving into pit lane but then rejoining the track suddenly despite having passed the pit-entry bollard. The Spaniard appeared to blame a car issue for the unusual line on team radio.

Lance Stroll was 21st for Aston Martin, a whopping 5.738s off the pace and 2.582s behind Perez in the second Cadillac. The Canadian will serve a 10-place grid penalty after taking new power unit parts for the session.

Aston Martin reserve driver Jak Crawford, last year’s Formula 2 runner-up, took Fernando Alonso’s car to 22nd and 0.391s behind his teammate.

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