Verstappen Fastest in FP1 in Belgium Ahead of Hamilton

Red Bull got rid of their rotating rear wing and went back to their original design, and so far, it looks like it’s working. Max Verstappen was the fastest man on track in the first practice session of the weekend, but the Ferrari drivers were not far behind, with Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc slotted into second and third respectively.

FP1 was relatively calm, albeit for some drama between the Championship leader Kimi Antonelli and Carlos Sainz. Free Practice can always bring some chaos with the amount of traffic on the track, and this time it was Antonelli who had to take avoiding action behind the slow-moving Williams car, leading to some radio complaints. The young Mercedes driver was not having a smooth session all round, as he finished only sixth fastest, though he seemed to have more pace than his teammate Russell. Oscar Piastri may have set a quicker time than Antonelli to go fifth, but the McLaren driver also suffered from a hydraulic pressure issue late into the hour that forced him to limp slowly back to his garage.

By the time FP1 had ended, it was Max Verstappen who found enough pace to go to the top of the timesheets, and Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc were not far behind in their Ferrari cars. Verstappen’s teammate Isack Hadjar was behind in fourth, followed by Piastri and Antonelli. Lando Norris slotted into seventh, with George Russell in eighth. Arvid Lindblad and Gabriel Bortoleto rounded out the top ten.

Below are the full results of FP1 in Belgium.