Ferrari boys fastest as Hamilton struggles: Belgian GP FP1 Results

Belgian Grand Prix

Ferrari boys fastest as Hamilton struggles: Belgian GP FP1 Results

The Scuderia looking good on the straights.

Martin Macdonald

Friday 30 August 2019 12:52

It was a positive return from the summer break for Ferrari in the first practice session for the Belgian Grand Prix as their drivers finished with the two quickest times in Spa, with Sebastian Vettel finishing two-tenths quicker than team-mate Charles Leclerc.

As the track heated up in Belgium, it looked to be between Ferrari or Red Bull to claim the fastest time. In the end, Max Verstappen finished nearly a second adrift of Vettel in first, while Alex Albon was impressive in his first outing with his new team as he was fourth - within a tenth-of-a-second of the Dutchman.

Valtteri Bottas and Lewis Hamilton languished behind in fifth and sixth respectively, but were running on medium tyres as opposed to the faster compounds being used by Red Bull and Ferrari.

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It wasn't just the tyres that cost them time, though, as Hamilton completed significantly less laps than his rivals, firstly due to a telemetry glitch and then a throttle problem

An excellent outing for Racing Point as both Lando Norris and Sergio Perez finished inside of the top 10.

Daniel Ricciardo, who will receive a five-place grid penalty for a new engine this weekend, made up the top half of the table along with Carlos Sainz.

Nicholas Latifi was given a run out for Williams and finished ahead of Robert Kubica.

Pierre Gasly, meanwhile, finished 18th.

Belgian GP FP1 results

1. Sebastian Vettel (Ferrari) 1:44.574
2. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) 1:44.788
3. Max Verstappen (Red Bull) 1:45.507
4. Alex Albon (Red Bull) 1:45.584
5. Valtteri Bottas (Mercedes) 1:45.882
6. Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) 1:45. 973
7. Lance Stroll (Racing Point) 1:46.198
8. Daniel Ricciardo (Renault) 1:46.426
9. Sergio Perez (Racing Point) 1:46.433
10. Carlos Sainz (McLaren) 1:46.557
11. Nico Hulkenberg (Renault) 1:46.669
12. Lando Norris (McLaren) 1:46.470
13. Kimi Raikkonen (Alfa Romeo) 1:47.024
14. Romain Grosjean (Haas) 1:47.176
15. Antonio Giovinazzi (Alfa Romeo) 1:47.333
16. Kevin Magnussen (Haas) 1:47.488
17. Daniil Kvyat (Toro Rosso) 1:47.636
18. Pierre Gasly (Toro Rosso) 1:47.968
19. Nicholas Latifi (Williams) 1:48.784
20. Robert Kubica (William) 1:48.966