F1 Belgian GP live updates - FP1
Follow along for live F1 practice updates from the Belgian Grand Prix at Spa-Francorchamps
Live Commentary
By: Jake Boxall-Legge
We're going to take a break, but we'll be back before sprint qualifying. Please do join us then - we'll see you then.
Both Mercedes drivers got into the top six; Russell fourth, Antonelli sixth.
The two Ferraris are staggered next to the silver cars in the timing boards in fifth and seventh, while the Astons, the Williamses, the Saubers, and the Racing Bulls seem evenly matched so far and all sit in the same postcode.
Piastri hasn't improved in his second and third sectors, but still improves to a 1m42.022s.
Verstappen is shipping 0.8s in the middle sector, however; a faster first sector is erased and the arrears at the end comes to 0.404s. Norris is a further tenth back, as he's short on Piastri in the opening sector.
Piastri and Verstappen are having one more go at this - still the same 0.3s gap in the opening sector...
Antonelli gets fourth on mediums, before Russell displaces him to go second - also on mediums.
Norris is only 10th as he makes a mistake at Stavelot and dips two wheels into the gravel. Bearman had a full off at the same corner.
Piastri's going great guns on his soft-tyre lap, and swats Stroll's laptime aside with a 1m42.123s.
Verstappen, however, is 0.3s up on Piastri in the opening sector - but then over a second slower in the middle sector. Lots of set-up variation here, McLaren clearly chasing the higher-downforce for the middle part of the lap.
When Verstappen crosses the line, he's 0.5s shy of Piastri.
Yes, there is more - we've got a few more takers. Piastri, Verstappen, et al have bolted on the C4 tyres, so expect some faster laps.
Stroll breaks the session out of its long-run stupor and has a crack on the softs; personal best first sector, purple middle sector, and it's a 1m43.112s as he finds a second on Leclerc.
That's a bit more like it. Any more for any more?
Friday mid-day traffic.
Charles Leclerc, Ferrari
Photo by: Red Bull Content Pool
With an absence of greens and purples on the timing board, we are currently not in the realms of push laps.
So, let's have some photos - here's Hadjar on the Eau Rouge ascent...
Isack Hadjar, Racing Bulls Team
Photo by: Red Bull Content Pool
Colapinto's got up to eighth on those softs, presumably testing the C4s to see if they hold up as a race tyre. No more takers for that compound, however...
Waiting for Codot
Our own Stuart Codling has always been a man of the people, and he's decided to get into the fanzone on the outside of Eau Rouge.
Photo by: Stuart Codling
Sainz is back on track after his earlier technical issues. He's out on the hard tyres, and looking to make up for the lost 30 minutes of running.
Piastri gets within 0.005s of Leclerc's benchmark, as Verstappen returns to the circuit on the same set of mediums.
Colapinto was on a soft tyre lap but suffers a big snap through Pouhon and just about hangs onto the car. He recovers to put his car 16th in the times.
Very much trailing a spell of soft- or medium-tyre runs in preparation for sprint quali.
Bortoleto is upset with Hamilton - "he's always in the middle of the track," the Sauber driver says when he catches the Ferrari in the middle of Raidillon.
Meanwhile, Leclerc goes top with a 1m44.148s on the hard compound.
Ocon gets to within 0.067s of Verstappen's benchmark now; the Dutchman follows up on his earlier effort but decides to put at the end of his lap.
Tsunoda is up to third, 0.256s off his team-mate.
"I have a lot of rear locking and instability," Hamilton reports, currently 16th in the times. Piastri goes second but loses time in his opening sector and is 0.5s off Verstappen.
Lots of lower downforce wings for this circuit, as is tradition; the floors should generate enough downforce to run through Eau Rouge/Raidillon flat, so trimming out the top allows for a bit more speed along the Kemmel Straight. Of course, it makes the second sector a bit harder...
Verstappen does a 1m44.236s to continue to raise the bar.
Antonelli gets within 0.024s of Verstappen's earlier lap, Ocon now 0.08s off. But that's all moot, as Piastri does a 1m44.979s on the hard tyres.
It's a 1m45.545s for Verstappen on the medium tyre, so he goes 0.5s clear of Norris. Still over 2s slower than last year's FP1 times, however - but teams might be tentative given the reduced tyre allocations of a sprint weekend.
Sainz hit the limp-home mode on the exit of the pitlane, as soon as he was giving it some gas - so that's incredibly strange, and hardly ideal as Williams is running a new floor this weekend.
We've had our first times in, and Antonelli's first into the 1m46s with a 1m46.118s. Norris then goes 0.036s faster.
Stroll has also been told to stop with an apparent issue, so the Canadian duly pulls in. And we're not even four minutes in...
Sainz is already in strife, stuck in "limp home" mode as his Williams doesn't seem to be moving very quickly. "Critical problem on the limp mode, so no full load". More reliability issues at Williams?
Lots of takers for the hard tyre so far, with a big step in compounds: C1, then C3 and C4 is the Pirelli allocation.
And...it's time to fire up for practice
Just the one hour of free running before we get into the official sessions. Hulkenberg, Hadjar, and Bortoleto are first to hit the road.
FP1 coming up!
Just a couple of minutes before the action starts in Belgium. Weather's cleared up a bit so far, but rain very much expected on Sunday.
Permane's first media sessions as VCARB TP
Every Friday, the F1 media gets a 10-15 minute tech talk session with selected teams - this weekend, Racing Bulls were up and new team principal Alan Permane spoke a little about the team's tweaks for Belgium...and about his new role.
Permane on becoming team principal: "It's been a busy two weeks, that's for sure, it's been exciting, I'm incredibly proud to be given this opportunity to lead this team, and I'm looking forward to it."
On the VCARB 02: "I think when we have a car that, when everything is right, we can be top of the midfield. We saw that in Austria, we need to get the setup right, the drivers need to be performing right, the car needs to be suited to the circuit, and then we can be top.
"We saw it in Barcelona, we were comfortable there, we saw it in Austria, we were comfortable there, but then we went to Montreal and we're a tenth the wrong side of that performance, and we struggle. We have a car, I really firmly believe we can be top of the midfield with, but we need to make sure we get everything right."
On journey from being sacked by Alpine after Belgium 2023: "It's been quite a journey, that's for sure. Two years ago here was a very sad day for me, but I'm just eternally grateful to the Red Bull family for what they've done for me."
Peter Bayer, RB F1 Team, Alan Permane, RB F1 Team
Photo by: Andy Hone/ LAT Images via Getty Images
Dave Robson on Williams' new floor
Williams has introduced a new floor for the Belgian GP weekend, something that has been in the pipeline for a while at Grove.
This should bring an overall increase in outright aerodynamic load, which Williams hopes will keep it ahead of the chasing midfield pack.
Dave Robson on Williams' new floor: "The aerodynamic work for this package was done a long time ago," he explained. "I think you'd have heard Carlos say we've kind of invented this package before we got the driver feedback, particularly Carlos's feedback about it, so it's not particularly addressing the issues he's he's talked about.
"It's just a general update. Aerodynamically that was done a long time ago, but it's then been a case of how we phase it in through design and manufacturing to suit the attrition as far as manufacturing is concerned: any fault fixing that's been going on and and quite a big 2026 R&D program."
Alexander Albon, Williams
Photo by: Zak Mauger / LAT Images via Getty Images
Lambiase misses Belgium weekend, Rennie in
Red Bull has taken a Rennie to solve its pre-Belgium heartburn - Simon Rennie steps in for Gianpiero Lambiase, who misses this race for personal reasons.
Rennie was formerly the race engineer to Mark Webber and Daniel Ricciardo at the team, and also briefly worked with Alex Albon in a similar role. He currently runs the simulation engineering department at Red Bull.
Simon Rennie, Red Bull Racing Race Engineer
Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images
Free practice at the Belgian GP coming up
Good morning everyone, and thank you for joining us! We're just under an hour away from the sole practice session of this weekend, before we get to sprint qualifying later this afternoon.
Clouds in the sky, as the fog hangs over the Belgian forest - but no rain...yet.
A general view of the circuit surroundings
Photo by: Sam Bloxham / LAT Images via Getty Images
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