Verstappen fastest in first practice but takes grid penalty
Title leader Max Verstappen topped first practice at the Belgian Grand Prix but the Red Bull driver will drop 10 places for Sunday’s race after receiving an engine penalty.
The Dutchman has taken his fifth internal combustion engine (ICE) at Spa-Francorchamps – exceeding his allocated number of power units for the season.
His quickest time on the soft tyre was a 1:44.372, with Hungarian Grand Prix winner Oscar Piastri finishing 0.531 seconds behind in the McLaren on the same compound.
The Williams of Alex Albon was a surprise third place for Williams, 0.727secs off the pace of Verstappen, also on the soft tyre.
George Russell and Lewis Hamilton were fourth and fifth for Mercedes, with the team running further upgrades to the car for round 14. However, Russell complained during the session he had “no rear at all”, while Hamilton highlighted excessive “bouncing”.
Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc ended his hour in sixth place ahead of the second Red Bull of Sergio Perez, who was nearly a second away from team-mate Verstappen’s top time in seventh.
It was a quiet session for Lando Norris after the team orders drama in Hungary last week. The Briton was ninth on the timesheets, 0.512secs off McLaren team-mate Piastri.
Carlos Sainz for Ferrari and Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll completed the top 10.
This weekend’s race in Belgian is the final grand prix before F1’s summer break.
Overnight rain was replaced by sunny conditions for the opening hour of running, but RB’s Daniel Ricciardo still suffered an early spin in the RB after taking too much kerb at the exit of the La Source hairpin on the hard tyre.
The Australian’s team-mate Yuki Tsunoda has also received a penalty for this weekend’s grand prix and will start from the back of the grid after taking new power unit elements.
Esteban Ocon was stuck in the garage with what Alpine said was a suspected water leak. The Frenchman confirmed on Thursday he will be joining Haas on a multi-year deal from the 2025 season.