Verstappen tops Belgian GP FP1 despite fears over slower Red Bull wing

Max Verstappen may have been worried that his old-spec rear wing would slow his RB22, but there was no sign of that as he topped the timesheet in FP1 for the Belgian Grand Prix.

The Red Bull driver posted a 1:47.070 to beat Lewis Hamilton by 0.148s, with Charles Leclerc a further 0.05s down.

Max Verstappen leads Belgian Grand Prix FP1 for Red Bull

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The sound of engines being fired up rang out at the Spa-Francorchamps circuit on Friday – at least for those close enough to hear it at the 7km-long circuit, with Carlos Sainz the first out in his Williams FW48.

Sainz pitted at the end of his lap to swap front wings with Alex Albon, leaving it to Sergio Perez in the Cadillac to get the timesheet rolling with a 1:53.734.

As his rivals ventured out, Perez’s time was blitzed with Max Verstappen quickest on the medium Pirellis with a 1:49.3, but his teammate Isack Hadjar was four-tenths quicker.

Hadjar, though, was running the soft tyres as he doesn’t need to focus on qualifying due to a grid penalty.

Red Bull’s power unit dominated the early running with Arvid Lindblad in third place and Liam Lawson P6. The Racing Bulls teammates were separated by Charles Leclerc and George Russell.

Verstappen and Hadjar swapped positions at the front as Lando Norris, who, like Hadjar, has a grid penalty, finally left the pits for his first run 15 minutes into the session.

He did so with an aero rake attached to his MCL40 and was back in the pits after one lap. A few minutes later he did a second installation run.

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The Ferraris lined up behind the Red Bull pairing, Lewis Hamilton ahead of Charles Leclerc, with championship leader Kimi Antonelli up into fifth place. Antonelli was frustrated with “idiot” Sainz for dawdling on the race line, with the Williams driver quick to apologise.

Hadjar, back up in P1, also had a problem, reporting that his legs were touching his hands. He was back in the Red Bull garage to have his seat adjusted.

Race Control noted Sainz as he crossed the white line on the pit entry, only to return to the track. He blamed his gearbox, but the stewards will have a closer look after the session.

Swapping to the soft tyres mid-session, Antonelli hit the front with a 1:47.6 with Russell looking to join his teammate in the top two only to lift just before the line. He was fourth, with the Red Bull teammates back in front.

Hamilton split the Mercedes 3-4, with Leclerc in sixth place but still on the medium tyres. However, the most recent British GP winner was up to P3 when he made the switch. Leclerc, though, was four-tenths down on Verstappen’s P1 time.

The Ferraris upped the ante and overhauled Hadjar as they closed in on Verstappen. Gabriel Bortoleto’s session ended early with an as yet undisclosed issue. Oscar Piastri pulled over onto the side of the track at Les Combes, but got going again and returned to the McLaren garage. He was told to “keep driving slowly”.

FP1 ended with Verstappen fastest of all with a 1:47.070, despite the Dutch racer saying Red Bull’s decision to drop the Macarena rear wing and revert to an older spec would mean a slower car.

Hamilton in second place was 0.145s off the pace, with Leclerc a further 0.052s down in third.

Zak Crawford, the only reserve driver in action, was slowest of all in the Aston Martin as he ran tests for the team ahead of next week’s introduction of the B-spec AMR26.

Belgian Grand Prix: Free Practice 1 Times

1 Max Verstappen 1:47.070
2 Lewis Hamilton 1:47.215
3 Charles Leclerc 1:47.277
4 Isack Hadjar 1:47.322
5 Oscar Piastri 1:47.522
6 Kimi Antonelli 1:47.603
7 Lando Norris 1:47.931
8 George Russell 1:47.959
9 Arvid Lindblad 1:48.234
10 Gabriel Bortoleto 1:48.406

The full timesheet for FP1 at the Belgian Grand Prix

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