Belgian GP: Carlos Sainz leads Ferrari 1-2 as F1 returns to action at Spa
Sainz was just 0.069s faster than Ferrari teammate Charles Leclerc, while championship leader Max Verstappen ended up third-quiꦕckest, 0.217s down in his Red Bull.
Verstappen holds an 80-point lead over title rival Leclerc but the pair are among six drivers who 🍷will take en♎gine-related grid penalties for Sunday’s grand prix.
McLaren’s Lando Norris, A✃lfa Romeo’s Valtteri Bottas, Alpine’s Esteban Ocon and Haas driver Mick Schumacher will also be hit 𒆙with penalties for exceeding their power unit allocations.
FP1 was int𝓰errupted by a lengthy red flag w𒉰hen Kevin Magnussen suffered an electrical problem, causing his Haas to grind to a halt at the exit of La Source with just over 20 minutes remaining.
꧅The session resumed with 10 minutes left on the clock but nobody was able to improve when a late downpour of rain left the circuit soaꦓked.
George Russell was the fastest Mercedes driver in fourth, 0.858s off the pac๊e, ahead of Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll and Alex Albo🧔n, who put his Williams sixth.
Daniel Ricciardo, whose impending split from McLaren was confirmed on Thursday, was seventh-quickest, with Yuki Tsunoda, Lewis Hamilton and Sergio Perez completi💝ng the rest of the top-10 order for AlphaTauri, Mercedes and Red Bull respectively.
A ܫsecond hour of practice will𝓡 take place at 5pm local time (4pm UK).
🔯Full r🐭esults from opening practice at the Belgian Grand Prix.
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