The rain on Friday in Belgium delivered a meaningless first practice session, while also casting doubts whether Qualifying for Sunday's Grand Prix will take place.
The wet conditions that are expected to remain for the whole of Friday, which is why the Qualifying for Sunday's Grand Prix might be at risk.
However the FIA confirmed that should the Qualifying not take place, the order of FP1 will not set the grid for the race. The Drivers' Championship Standings will be the order by which the drivers will start the race on Sunday.
That means Verstappen will start sixth due to his penalty while Perez will start from pole.
In the end, Carlos Sainz set the fastest time, with Oscar Piastri second fastest and Lando Norris third.
A point worth noting after FP1 in Spa, was that despite the heavy rain, the Intermediate tyre was performing better than the Wet, which questions the viability of having the Blue-walled tyres, keeping in mind that drivers have always complained about how the full wets perform.
Buildup towards FP1
Here we are past the halfway mark of the Formula 1 season, the final grand prix before the sport's summer break at the legendary Spa-Francorchamps.
It is also the third Sprint weekend of the season, following Azerbaijan and Austria, with three more remaining for Qatar, United States (Austin not Vegas) and Brazil.
Those worried about another weekend of Max Verstappen dominance, may find some solace in the fact that he will receive a five-second penalty for taking an extra gearbox, his fifth, while he's allowed only four without a penalty.
But who are we kidding, he won from 14th on the grid last year at Spa, and the RB19 this year is more formidable, while the Dutchman is operating on a different level. However, we can enjoy watching him slice through the field.
That is if the weather does not throw any spanners in the works, as it is expected to be a rainy three days around Spa-Francorchamps, and we all know what that means, in terms of the uncertainty it causes, keeping in mind there will only be one practice session with things getting serious right after than with Qualifying on Friday for Sunday's Grand Prix, while Saturday will be reserved for the Sprint Race and its Shootout.
Various teams have brought circuit-specific upgrades mainly lower downforce rear wings. Red Bull have a revised Coke/Engine cover with revised cooling, having a reduced cooling exit areas ahead of the rear top wishbones, Ferrari have a low downforce rear wing in their SF-23.
Alpine have a track-specific front wing, but they un updated floor on their A523, while Mercedes have brought a bigger upgrade package.
The W14 will feature a new Coke/Engine cover with new sidepod inlets, a new floor and a new rear wing, with Lewis Hamilton and George Russell running different specifications of the wings (lower and higher downforce).
As for Pirelli, the have brought their C2 (Hard), C3 (Medium) and C4 (Soft) compounds to Spa, one step harder from the compounds they ran in Hungary.
Belgium FP1 session highlights
FP1 started in wet conditions, with track temperatures at 18C while the ambient temperatures were 23C. Contrary to their normal practice, the teams will have to run in the wet, as Qualifying later on Friday will be in the same conditions.
Alex Albon was the first driver to set out on track with Intermediate tyres while Hamilton soon followed in the Mercedes with full Wets bolted on his W14 but the Williams drivers goes straight at the bus stop chicane.
Mercedes soon radioed Hamilton informing him of heavier rain in the pitlane, while Russell in the sister Mercedes had a moment under breaking entering into Turn 5.
The rain intensity soon increased around the 15-minute mark of the session, with Yuki Tsunoda having a moment at Eau Rouge, cutting the corner, but keeping it in one piece.
Track action was reduced with the increase in the rain, but Ferrari soon unleashed Sainz onto the track, McLaren following suit soon after that with Norris.
22 minutes into the session, Pierre Gasly brought out the first Yellow flag of the session, while on a lap on Intermediates, as he went straight at the Bus Stop chicane.
Norris soon switched to Intermediates as well, and proved they were the better option for the conditions as he was setting times over three seconds faster than the benchmark, which was the time set earlier by Charles Leclerc on Wets.
Halfway into the session, Verstappen was yet to head out onto the track, while at that moment, Haas informed Nico Hulkenberg that rain increased from Turn 5 to Turn 8.
Zhou Guanyu soon had his own moment, going straight at Turn 8, the Chinese driver having a trip into the run off arear slightly hitting the barrier with the front wing. Albon also had his own off-track excursion at Turn 6.
Soon the Red flag was brought out by Logan Sargeant in the Williams, as the rookie crashed out at the end of the Kemmel Straight.
"I couldn't turn, something was broken," the American reported.
The session was resumed with 20 minutes remaining, and Verstappen was in his RB19, getting ready for his first run around Spa-Francorchamps. Leclerc and Norris, on the other hand, were out of their cars.
Verstappen went out on the track with Intermediate tyres on his Red Bull , but returned to the pits without even setting a time.
In the final five minutes of the session, all 20 drivers were back in the pits, no further running, and just as I typed these words, Zhou, Leclerc, and Valtteri Bottas set out on track with full Wet tyres, less than one minute remaining on the clock.
Soon Hamilton followed, as all executed some practice starts, before returning to the pitlane, Leclerc locking up on his way back.
How they finished
Sainz set a lap time of 2:03.207 to go fastest, with Piastri 0.585s behind him in second, while Norris was 0.692s further down the road in eighth.
Leclerc was fourth fastest in the second Ferrari, almost five seconds slower than his teammate while Perez was 0.092s behind the Monegasque in fifth.
Albon was sixth fastest in the Williams, with a 2:08.394 while Tsunoda was seventh fastest for AlphaTauri, 0.673s behind the Thai driver.
Kevin Magnussen was eighth fastest for Haas, ahead of Daniel Ricciardo in ninth, while Hulkenberg was tenth.
Reigning F1 Champion Verstappen did not even set a time.
FP1 Official Results
Latest News
Loading
