Belgian Grand Prix: Friday Practice Driver & Team reports

Red Bull's Championship leader Max Verstappen was fastest in FP1. But McLaren bounced back in FP2 later in the day with Norris ending the first day in Belgium in P1.

This is what was said after F1 practice Friday:

P1. Lando Norris: "It’s been a reasonable day. The car seems quick, and we’ve gathered some good information. I’ve still got some work to do tomorrow on making sure I feel comfortable in the car, but I started to find more of a rhythm in the end. We’ll see what tomorrow holds."

P2. Oscar Piastri: "It’s been two positive sessions for the team. The pace has been good all day, and we got some good data to learn from overnight. I’m feeling in a strong position going into tomorrow - let’s see what the weather brings."

Andrea Stella, Team Principal: "A positive first day at Spa-Francorchamps. The drivers were able to work through their programmes without interruption. We concentrated on understanding tyre performance, and with half the circuit newly resurfaced, there was a lot to learn. We have gathered good data and will work hard to understand it this evening, to improve the car and put ourselves in the best position for Qualifying tomorrow and to be competitive on Sunday."

P3. Max Verstappen: “We tried quite a few things today, tweaking and testing the car, because it is typically Spa where of course you have sector one and three where you want the top speed and then a very long middle sector where you want a cornering speed. It is always very tricky to find the right balance when you are trying a few things to see what is better. We’ll look at it on the data and analyse the day in debrief. We started off quite positively today and have some things to work on from FP2, so there are a few things to look at. Hopefully all the changes that we made will come together, especially as I will be starting near the back for the race because of the engine penalty. However, we will try to optimise this as much as we can. Naturally, you always want a good qualifying, but the race is our focus."

P9. Sergio Perez: "During the practice sessions we have been playing around with the set-up, but haven’t been able to fully extract everything out of the car yet. The Team got plenty of information from today with both cars running quite different and there’s a lot to analyse for tomorrow’s strategy. It is going to be an interesting weekend coming up, tomorrow’s qualifying could be potentially wet and Sunday is looking dry at the moment. Going in to the weekend there are still a lot of unknowns so we’ll need to be able to adapt."

Team Report: Scuderia Ferrari HP got through its planned programme for the first two hours of free practice for the Belgian Grand Prix without any problems. The team was hoping for two dry sessions so as to evaluate the latest evolutions introduced in Hungary, this time on a quick track like Spa-Francorchamps and its wish was granted. It was cloudy for most of the day in the Ardennes, but the rain stopped shortly after 8am. Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz were thus able to gather the required data, while also getting on with the usual set up work on the SF-24s. In the second and quickest of the two sessions the Monegasque and the Spaniard were fourth and fifth fastest respectively.

P4. Charles Leclerc: A difficult day to understand, running with various set ups and tyres, with all the teams on their own run plans. We don’t yet have a clear picture and with the expectation of rain tomorrow and dry conditions on Sunday, we will work to find the best compromise to extract the maximum on both days. It’s our last race before the holidays, so we will give it everything to finish it on a high.

P5. Carlos Sainz: This year we found a very different track compared to previous years due to the new asphalt. We had to adapt the car to these new conditions and bumps, but overall the new surface provides a lot more grip. We need to keep an eye out for tyre degradation and race simulation was an important part of our Friday programme. Tomorrow we'll try to focus on maximising the package we have and qualify as high up as possible.

P6. George Russell: It is always nice to be here at Spa-Francorchamps and getting to drive a car in anger around this incredible circuit. The resurfaced tarmac has also made it extra fast this year. We've got some work to do overnight to find some lap time. The McLarens and the Red Bull of Max Verstappen looked to be a step ahead of us today. We need to dig through the data and put in the work in the simulator at Brackley to hopefully unearth some gains and get closer to them. I'm sure we can do that. Saturday will definitely be a very different day if we are able to do so. The forecast is also for rain tomorrow so that will add another factor into the mix. We have often had good Fridays and the others have caught up come Saturday, so hopefully it will be us doing that this weekend.

P10: Lewis Hamilton: Today wasn't our best day as the car wasn't feeling particularly strong. FP1 wasn't great and we worked on some changes for FP2. That initially improved the balance and it felt good, but once we put the Soft tyre on we struggled more. It was definitely an improvement overall, but others took a step forward to too. We've got some time to find overnight, and we will be aiming to do so. There could be some wet weather tomorrow so that good change things up. If it does rain, it will likely open things up a little bit and we can hopefully take advantage of that. Let's see what Saturday brings.

Andrew Shovlin, Trackside Engineering Director: We've struggled with the car today so we will be working hard overnight as to how to improve for tomorrow. We are losing time across the full speed range, rather than in specific corners, and the long run isn't where we need it to be either. Both of those are linked by a lack of balance and grip. We therefore have plenty of work to do. We have our team in the simulator back at Brackley already looking at setup options and aiming to make solid progress. There is a good chance we will see some wet running tomorrow. That may make it difficult to evaluate overnight changes, but we will see what we can learn and what Saturday brings.

Team Report: Lance and Fernando used all three dry Pirelli compounds across the two practice sessions, familiarising themselves with the resurfaced areas of the track. The team sought to learn more about the updates that were applied to the AMR24 in Hungary. Today's dry running could prove invaluable ahead of Sunday's Grand Prix, with rain forecast for Qualifying on Saturday before warmer conditions are predicted for the race.

P11. Lance Stroll: "It's always nice coming back to Spa, it's a great track and a lot of fun to drive around here. We got a lot of laps in over the two sessions. We tried a few different things on the car and we'll learn a lot from that. Saturday looks set to be wet so that brings its own challenges and we'll work hard to try and take advantage of any unpredictability."

P2. Fernando Alonso: "We got a lot of laps in today so we'll analyse the data tonight and see what we can learn. Rain is possible tomorrow for Qualifying so we'll have to be sharp with the decisions we make if we do get changeable conditions. We'll work hard tonight to work out the best car setup for what lies ahead this weekend."

Team Report: KICK Sauber F1 Team concluded a productive day of action in Practice for the Belgian Grand Prix. Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu put their C44s through the test of Formula One calendar’s longest circuit as the team collected data and information about the cars’ setup and tyres on a high-efficiency track. Ahead of qualifying, our engineers will focus on fine-tuning the setup to extract that crucial extra bit of performance that will give an additional boost to our drivers.

P13: Valtteri Bottas: “Today has been a productive day of learning – this track never disappoints. We got to further test and understand the new parts introduced in Budapest, although Spa is obviously very different while trying different configurations to get a clear picture of what we will need from our car for Sunday. While we enjoyed two dry sessions today, the question mark remains on tomorrow’s forecast – there’s some rain expected, which wouldn’t be unusual for Spa. In any case, we got a decent number of long runs under our belt today, gathering useful data for us to work on overnight. Sunday remains our top priority, and the sun is supposed to be out again by then – so we will need to set the car up accordingly.”

P19. Zhou Guanyu: “Today was quite a tricky day at the office, but we managed to get through our programme and collect a vast amount of data and information to compare my package with the new upgrades used by Valtteri. It’s clear that we need to make significant progress to find some more pace: it’s rather difficult to be fighting for the top 10 – and even the top 15. While we’re there with the group, I reckon we’re at the back at this moment. Now it’s time for us to regroup, analyse the data, and try to find a few more tenths to be closer to our competitors. Let’s see what the weather has in store tomorrow and what that means for the performance of our car. Spa always has some surprises in its pocket, which could help me to put myself more into position.”

P14. Daniel Ricciardo: “It was nice to drive here today in dry conditions; they resurfaced part of the track, and a lot of corners have more grip which feels good. Today was a proper test day for us, we tried a lot of things, and I was happier in FP2 compared to this morning. We still need to find a few more tenths for tomorrow but it may rain, and if quali is the only wet session, we won’t have much time to figure it out and find the grip. This will be a challenge for all of us. Sunday looks dry though, so at least we are comfortable, given what we learned today.”

P20: Yuki Tsunoda: “We tried a few things today and know some areas we want to look at and improve tomorrow. I have a grid penalty on Sunday for taking new power unit elements, so it’ll be about maximising as much as possible this weekend. The track has a new surface in places which is nice and smooth, and I was able to find more grip. It’s a nice modification and we have a good opportunity to learn more tomorrow and find the most optimum set up. Usually, we perform quite well in the rain, and with the conditions looking mixed this weekend it throws another element into the mix.”

Alan Permane, Racing Director: “A tough day on our side, we have Yuki starting from the back of the grid on Sunday due to his PU penalty, so he’s been focusing a little bit more on race preparation. We’ve got some work to do to find some more rear grip, so we’ll be working in the simulator overnight with several set-up items to test out, with a view to trying those on the car in FP3. On a positive note, Daniel’s long run pace was not only quick, but had very low degradation. We have much more confidence in our long run pace than our short run pace and we’ll be aiming to improve that for tomorrow.”

P7. Esteban Ocon: “It is a pleasure to be back at Spa-Francorchamps and driving at this awesome circuit. This morning, unfortunately, we had a water leak on my car, which ended my session early while the team fixed the issue. In Free Practice 2 this afternoon, we were able to run to our programme and get some much-needed laps in. Our low fuel runs looked encouraging but it looks like our long runs need some work, especially on tyre management. We managed to gain plenty of information across both cars today and now it will be important to run through that see what works and what does not and make the necessary changes ahead of tomorrow.”

P15. Pierre Gasly: “It is always mixed emotions coming back to race at Spa-Francorchamps. It’s a truly unique circuit. I love driving a Formula 1 car here as is the case in Free Practice today and it is right up there amongst my favourite circuits. We have some upgrades this weekend so it’s important for us to get them running and help us understand more about the performance. Free Practice 1 was good but we had a couple of small problems in Free Practice 2, which probably masked our performance. We have a lot of data to run through, some comparisons to make to the other car and we go again tomorrow ready for a busy day on track.”

Team Report: FP1 saw Nico Hulkenberg and Kevin Magnussen venture out onto Formula 1’s longest circuit on differing run plans for the opening 60-minute practice session. Hulkenberg opted to begin on the Pirelli P Zero Yellow medium tire, setting a fastest time of 1:46.764, as Magnussen bolted on a set of the hard compound for his baseline stint, clocking a time of 1:47.372. A switch to the soft compound for both saw further progress, Hulkenberg’s best effort of 1:45.645 just ahead of Magnussen’s quickest attempt of 1:45.812. To take the checkered flag, both drivers returned to the tires they started the session on, finishing P17 and P18 on the timesheets. The VF-24s were kitted out with different rear wing specs to compare data in FP2. Magnussen left the garage on the medium compound, banking a lap of 1:44.882. A fresh set of softs produced a time of 1:43.485 to put the Dane P8, before a high-fuel run on the same tire to finish the session. Hulkenberg started on a new set of White hards, recording a lap of 1:45.399, with the German swapping to new softs to achieve his fastest time of 1:43.846. A final stint on the hards Hulkenberg started the session on concluded the day’s running, finishing P16 overall.

P16. Nico Hulkenberg: “It was a tricky Friday in some ways, I didn’t feel the happiest in the car so we need to analyze the data overnight and find a bit more of a sweet spot and harmony between balance and performance. We learned some things today though so it’s all about putting it together tomorrow and putting the best package together. The weather in qualifying could be quite a bit different to Sunday so we’ll need to take a decision on set-up and downforce, it’s going to be interesting.”

P8. Kevin Magnussen: “It was a pretty good practice day; we were looking at different downforce levels and it’s always difficult to pick the right one in Spa. The nature of the track is between different levels of downforce and with the weather also you need to factor in the risk of having to run in the wet, it’s not an easy situation but it’s the same for everyone. Over one lap, it doesn’t matter so much around here as although it means something to start up-front, in the race you can overtake quite easily here, and you need good race pace. We looked decent in FP2, so let’s see.”

Ayao Komatsu, Team Principal: “In FP1 we struggled quite a bit with neither driver being happy with consistency through corner balance. In FP2 we took a different strategy across the cars because we’ve got the change of weather conditions expected tomorrow, so we wanted to get as much data as possible. I think the strategy of splitting worked – we haven’t taken any decisions yet – but certainly we’ve got a good amount of data to look through tonight. I think we made a good step from FP1 to FP2, we’re certainly in a better position, and in the high-fuel run we were okay but we can still definitely improve. I think it’s been a productive Friday, we just need to decide the correct set-up for the compromise between a potentially wet qualifying and a dry race.”