Following a lull in the action, a number of drivers had bolted on the soft tyre by the halfway point to put in some fast laps. This initially put Russell ahead, before Verstappen went back to the top by eight tenths from the Briton.
Away from the track, it was confirmed that Verstappen and Yuki Tsunoda will both face grid penalties this weekend after taking on new power unit components. This didn’t seem to be deterring Verstappen in FP1, whose fastest time looked to be untouchable, while team mate Sergio Perez reported some struggles with his RB20 over team radio.
READ MORE: Verstappen and Tsunoda set for grid penalties at Belgian GP after engine changes
Also raising concerns was Fernando Alonso, who asked his Aston Martin engineer, “Is the engine okay? How can we be slower in the first sector?”. Verstappen’s session, on the other hand, remained untroubled, with the reigning world champion staying on top with his effort of 1m 43.372s.
This put him half a second clear of Piastri in the McLaren, ahead of Alex Albon for Williams in an impressive third. Russell led from Mercedes team mate Hamilton in fourth and fifth respectively, while Charles Leclerc went sixth quickest in the Ferrari.
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Publish date : 2024-07-26 15:01:10
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