F1 Results Today: Verstappen suffers blow with penalty looming as Ricciardo spins

Max Verstappen, Red Bull, FIA, 2024, Social, Photoshop — Photo: © IMAGO

Belgian Grand Prix Practice

F1 Results Today: Verstappen suffers blow with penalty looming as Ricciardo spins

All the times from the Belgian Grand Prix practice session

Originally written by Chris Deeley. This version is a translation.

Friday 26 July 2024 18:00

The Belgian Grand Prix is well known for having dramatic, and often chaotic races – but the 2024 weekend started peacefully, with an uninterrupted pair of practice sessions.

The most dramatic moment came in FP1 when Daniel Ricciardo caught a still-damp kerb on an otherwise dry track at La Source, spinning his VCARB machine around and narrowly avoiding hitting the wall on the inside of the corner.

Shortly after having his F1 future confirmed, Esteban Ocon had a difficult first, having just a single lap on track before coming into the pits with a suspected water leak. The Alpine engineers got to work, but were unable to get him back onto the track before the end of the hour's running – although he ran without trouble in FP2.

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Max Verstappen was dominant on track in the early afternoon session, setting a time a full half a second faster than any of his rivals – sparking discussions about whether his Red Bull will be fast enough to allow him to overcome his 10-place grid penalty on Sunday.

Those questions were quietened in FP2 as both McLarens outpaced the reigning champion on their qualifying simulation runs, Lando Norris by two tenths of a second and Oscar Piastri by just two thousandths.

F1 FP2 Results: Belgian Grand Prix 2024

1. Lando Norris [McLaren] - 1:42.260sec
2. Oscar Piastri [McLaren] - +0.215s
3. Max Verstappen [Red Bull] - +0.217s
4. George Russell [Mercedes] - +0.577s
5. Carlos Sainz [Ferrari] - +0.838s
6. Charles Leclerc [Ferrari] - +1.030s
7. Esteban Ocon [Alpine] - +1.141s
8. Kevin Magnussen [Haas] - +1.225s
9. Sergio Perez [Red Bull] - +1.244s
10. Lewis Hamilton [Mercedes] - +1.259s
11. Lance Stroll [Aston Martin] - +1.272s
12. Fernando Alonso [Aston Martin] - +1.278s
13. Valtteri Bottas [Kick Sauber] - +1.415s
14. Daniel Ricciardo [VCARB] - +1.563s
15. Pierre Gasly [Alpine] - +1.569s
16. Nico Hulkenberg [Haas] - +1.586s
17. Alex Albon [Williams] - +1.632s
18. Logan Sargeant [Williams] - +1.966s
19. Zhou Guanyu [Kick Sauber] - +2.042s
20. Yuki Tsunoda [VCARB] - +2.088s

F1 FP1 Results: Belgian Grand Prix 2024

1. Max Verstappen [Red Bull] - 1:43.372sec
2. Oscar Piastri [McLaren] - +0.531s
3. Alex Albon [Williams] - +0.727s
4. George Russell [Mercedes] - +0.853s
5. Lewis Hamilton [Mercedes] - +0.907s
6. Charles Leclerc [Ferrari] - +0.934s
7. Sergio Perez [Red Bull] - +0.957s
8. Lando Norris [McLaren] - +1.043s
9. Carlos Sainz [Ferrari] - +1.202s
10. Lance Stroll [Aston Martin] - +1.327s
11. Pierre Gasly [Alpine] - +1.461s
12. Fernando Alonso [Aston Martin] - +1.549s
13. Daniel Ricciardo [VCARB] - +1.578s
14. Valtteri Bottas [Kick Sauber] - +1.783s
15. Logan Sargeant [Williams] - +1.939s
16. Yuki Tsunoda [VCARB] - +2.192s
17. Nico Hulkenberg [Haas] - +2.273s
18. Kevin Magnussen [Haas] - +2.440s
19. Zhou Guanyu [Kick Sauber] - +2.623s
20. Esteban Ocon [Alpine] - No time