Max Verstappen headlined the opening Formula 1 practice session at the Belgian Grand Prix, just over a tenth clear of Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton as Red Bull demonstrated strong early pace.
The Red Bull pair traded times at the top of the timesheets in the first 20 minutes of the session, Verstappen sporting mediums and Hadjar on the softs. Verstappen, who moved to the top at the end of the first 10 minutes, was first to go below 1m47s, setting a 1m47.859s.
Hadjar then dug out a smidgen more time, going less than a tenth faster on his next effort to shuffle to the top. As the first half-hour came to a close, the Red Bulls were still on top of the pile; Kimi Antonelli posted a 1m47.603s to briefly sit at the top of the order, but Hadjar closed out the opening 30 minutes with a 1m47.322s to return to the top of the pile.
Verstappen then uncovered more time with a 1m47.070s to demonstrate Red Bull’s early potency around the Spa-Francorchamps circuit, having switched to softs to go 0.252s clear of his team-mate; the RB22s had found a handy groove in the middle sector, allowing them to make up a plentiful supply of time.
The Ferraris then split the two Red Bulls to move into second and third, Hamilton just 0.145s shy of Verstappen with his second run on a set of soft tyres. Silverstone winner Charles Leclerc was then half a tenth shy of his team-mate.
But Verstappen’s hold over top spot was not shaken, and his 1m47.070s remained the quickest lap of the session – five seconds slower than Oscar Piastri’s practice benchmark from 2025 with the new generation of F1 cars.
Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari
Photo by: Andrej Isakovic – AFP – Getty Images
Piastri was fifth fastest this year, 0.452s off Verstappen’s benchmark, as the McLaren driver was a tenth clear of championship leader Antonelli. The Australian looked set to pull up at the side of the road in the final couple of minutes of the session, being told to stop the car, but was allowed to bring the car back to the garage as the car retained enough hydraulic pressure to get back.
Lando Norris and George Russell completed the top eight, as ninth-placed Arvid Lindblad was the first man outside of a second of the fastest time. The latter Briton was trialling a new, squarer roll-hoop intake for the Racing Bulls squad, as Liam Lawson retained the old half-circle design.
Gabriel Bortoleto was 10th quickest, a fraction ahead of Lawson, while Hulkenberg was 12th and over half a second down on his team-mate.
Jak Crawford was the sole FP1 rookie in the session and finished at the bottom of the timing board; Aston Martin looks to be in a difficult spot this weekend, as 21st-placed Lance Stroll was 5.7s off the pace and three seconds down on Valtteri Bottas’ Cadillac.
F1 Belgium GP – FP1 results
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– The Autosport.com Team
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