The Spa-Francorchamps circuit is one of the most unusual tracks on the calendar, and that has been translated almost perfectly with Certainly atypical first free practice sessions in Belgium, at least in the second half due to a long red flag and the subsequent appearance of rain. What is not strange is to find the Ferrari cars in the lead in a session of this style, and that happened with both Carlos Sainz as with Charles Leclerc, who took the first two positions ahead of Max Verstappen.
With the important aspect of the penalties for engine components that Verstappen and Leclerc will face, and that will make them go to the back of the grid, the focus is on their teammates in the fight for pole position and potential victory. Sainz recorded a best lap of 1:46.538, with which he improved Leclerc’s time by 69 thousandths and Verstappen by two tenths. Much further down was Sergio Pérez, one of the four drivers who failed to complete a fastest lap on the soft, finishing eleventh on the hard tyres.
This was due to the combination of two factors. The session was red-flagged with 22 minutes to go when Kevin Magnussen was stopped outside La Source .The car had suffered a voltage problem, and the red was prolonged for almost a quarter of an hour out of caution despite being close to the pits, generating the final time sprint. However, almost no one could improve, since moments later the expected rain made an appearance earlier than expectedfirst in the third sector and then invading the rest of the track
This also prevented getting a 100% reliable reading from Mercedes beyond the George Russell fourth place, as Hamilton did not get past ninth place on the medium tyre. For this reason, drivers like Lance Stroll or Alexander Albon occupied unusual positions in the top six over the recently ‘fired’ Daniel Ricciardo. Much further back were the Alpines, with Fernando Alonso in a discreet 14th position which, despite everything, was two places better than that obtained by his teammate Esteban Ocon, who will also start at the back of the grid like Verstappen, Leclerc, Lando Norris and Valtteri Bottas. Mick Schumacher will also penalize, but in his case it is only 10 places.
Free Time Table 1 Belgian Grand Prix
Photos: Scuderia Ferrari