Verstappen springs surprise as Red Bull leads Belgian GP practice

Verstappen overturns expectations at Spa

Max Verstappen delivered an early surprise at Spa-Francorchamps by setting the pace in opening practice for the Belgian Grand Prix, despite Red Bull appearing to carry a performance deficit heading into the weekend.

The four-time Formula 1 champion recorded a 1:47.070s lap to finish fastest in the hour-long session. Team-mate Isack Hadjar completed a strong Red Bull showing in fourth, 0.250 seconds from the benchmark. It was the first time this season that neither Mercedes nor Ferrari had topped FP1.

Red Bull’s result was particularly notable after the team abandoned its ‘Macarena’ wing and reverted to its original specification. The newer design had contributed to crashes for Verstappen during the Austrian and British Grand Prix weekends. The decision had suggested that Red Bull could be on the back foot at Spa, but FP1 offered a more encouraging response.

The session also underlined the uncertainty surrounding Hadjar’s weekend. He is expected to start the race from the back of the grid because of power-unit changes, making his fourth-place pace less significant for qualifying than it might otherwise have been. Red Bull’s wing decision is explored further in Red Bull withdraws revolving rear wing after Verstappen crashes.

Ferrari keeps Red Bull honest

Ferrari placed both drivers inside the top three, with Lewis Hamilton narrowly ahead of Charles Leclerc. Hamilton finished 0.145 seconds behind Verstappen, while Leclerc was 0.207 seconds adrift after both improved on their first soft-tyre runs.

Oscar Piastri was fifth for McLaren, 0.452 seconds off the pace, but ended the session crawling back to the pits after a hydraulics pressure issue. The problem will be investigated before FP2.

Kimi Antonelli briefly moved to the top of the timing screens by 0.175 seconds over Hadjar on soft tyres. Mercedes team-mate George Russell followed, but finished around a third of a second behind Antonelli. The pair ultimately ended sixth and seventh, with Lando Norris eighth after a delayed start to his session.

Norris faces a difficult weekend

Norris completed only two installation laps before finally setting a time approaching the half-hour mark. He was initially 2.803 seconds off Hadjar’s pace, though he recovered to seventh before the chequered flag. His race prospects are already complicated by a 10-place grid penalty for taking another control electronics unit.

Racing Bulls’ Arvid Lindblad and Audi’s Gabriel Bortoleto completed the top 10, with Bortoleto 1.336 seconds off the lead. Jak Crawford, replacing Fernando Alonso at Aston Martin for FP1, finished last, more than six seconds behind Verstappen.