Oscar Piastri topped the Belgian Grand Prix’s sole observe session with a snug margin over Max Verstappen forward of Dash qualifying later immediately.
Piastri’s McLaren, loaded with downforce, was untouchable within the center sector, setting a purple time 0.932s faster than Verstappen to set him up for prime spot. Verstappen – his Pink Bull Racing automobile quicker down the straights – was faster within the speed-sensitive first and third sectors however not by practically sufficient to beat Piastri’s benefit by way of the corners, the Australian topping the time sheet with a 0.475s margin.
Lando Norris was third within the sister McLaren, however the Briton’s first lap on mushy tires was compromised by him operating large and onto the gravel at Stavelot. A second try on the identical set of tires moved him into third, however he was 0.504s slower than his title-leading teammate.
Norris was slower than Piastri in all three sectors. Combining his finest splits throughout each laps would have put him solely barely nearer, at 0.386s adrift.
George Russell slotted into fourth for Mercedes, the Briton additionally quicker than Piastri within the first and third splits however no match by way of the twisty center sector.
Charles Leclerc steered his upgraded Ferrari to fifth and 0.906s off the tempo. Like Pink Bull Racing and Mercedes, the Italian machine was arrange for straight-line velocity and misplaced bundles of instances by way of the downforce-dependent corners.
Andrea Kimi Antonelli was quickest within the closing break up for Mercedes however 0.957s off the tempo. He beat Lewis Hamilton to the place, the second Ferrari driver missing to teammate Leclerc largely within the closing break up.
Lance Stroll recovered from a 15-minute seat change early within the session – costing him round 5 laps of mileage – to finish the hour eighth forward of Aston Martin teammate Fernando Alonso, the 2 intently matched at simply over 1s off the tempo. Isack Hadjar accomplished the highest 10 for Racing Bulls.
Carlos Sainz’s session acquired off to the worst potential begin, the Spaniard pressured to limp again to pit lane on the finish of his first lap with a “vital” gasoline system challenge. It took his Williams workforce half an hour to repair the automobile, leaving Sainz down on laps, however his quickest tour was ok for eleventh forward of teammate Alex Albon in twelfth. Sauber drivers Gabriel Bortoleto and Nico Hulkenberg adopted, 1.2 and 1.4s off the tempo respectively.
Liam Lawson was 15h forward of Esteban Ocon, Pierre Gasly and Yuki Tsunoda, the Pink Bull Racing driver 15 locations and a pair of.066s behind teammate Verstappen.
Franco Colapinto was nineteenth forward of Oliver Bearman on the rear of the sphere, the British rookie greater than 3s off the tempo.
