Spa Practice 1: Alonso tops at end of damp morning in the Ardennes

It didn't rain over Spa-Francorchamps, but the legendary track was damp throughout the first free practice of the Belgian Grand Prix weekend, only allowing the effective use of slicks in the final half hour of the session - Today marked the start of the second half of the F1 World Championship season.

When the chequered flag waved to end FP1 it was Ferrari driver Fernando Alonso who topped the timing screens ahead of Force India pair of Paul di Resta and Adrian Sutil who were second and third respectively.

Alonso's best time of 1:55.198 was set when the track was at it's driest - early on it was too wet and he only did a sighting lap on Intermediates, and towards the end of the session it became slippery again - the lap time was still around seven or eight seconds off what is expected to be the best time on dry tyres this year.

Force India's strong showing rekindled memories of their best result ever in Formula 1 when Giancarlo Fisichella finished second in the 2009 edition of the race. Early indications are that Di Resta and Sutil have handy weapons at their disposal this weekend.

Paul di Resta second in FP1

The session got underway in wet track conditions with Intermediates required and about half the field going out to sample the state of play. Around the halfway point, Mark Webber bolted a set of slicks on to his Red Bull and took the plunge. Within 15 minutes everyone was out on a slippery but drying surface - each lap saw a different driver topping the screens as the track dried progressively.

Thus reading too much into the lap times would be meaningless as it all depended when and where drivers were out on a hot lap during the course of the 90 minutes, particularly the driest period.

Notably both McLaren's looked handy in the tricky conditions with Jenson Button and Sergio Perez hogging the top of the timing screens for most of the first hour. In the end Perez was fourth fastest, with Button 14th. Nevertheless the Woking squad will have been buoyed by their positive showing during an intense morning in the Ardennes - they look to be about to move on from their Hungarian ordeal.

Sergio Perez fourth fastest in FP1

Both Mercedes drivers looked strong when they were out there doing laps, with Nico Rosberg going quickest on his first flyer and Lewis Hamilton also at the sharp end of proceedings. Rosberg was fifth ,Hamilton 15th.

World championship leader Sebastian Vettel was sixth in the Red Bull, with teammate Mark Webber down in 19th. The fact is that the Australian was up near the top when he was out on his fast lap stint but when pitting others got the dryer run and better lap times as a consequence; as was the case with Hamilton, Button and others.

Next up were the Sauber pair of Esteban Gutierrez and Nico Hulkenberg, seventh and eighth respectively, followed by Red Bull 2o14 candidate Daniel Ricciardo ninth in the Toro Rosso, with teammate Vergne 13th fastest.

Nico Rosberg fifth fastest in FP1

Valtteri Bottas rounded out the top ten in the Williams, with Pastor Maldonado 12th in the sister car - newly appointed chief technical officer Pat Symonds was at work in the pit garage as a Williams employee for the first time.

Heikki Kovalainen was on FP1 duty for Caterham, in place of Charles Pic, and ended his morning 16th with teammate Giedo van der Garde a tad slower in 17th.

It was a strange morning for Lotus. Kimi Raikkonen, who was back from 'sick leave', ended the session second slowest and teammate Romain Grosjean slowest of all.

During the period of running Intermediates they were comfortably at the upper end of the timing sheets, but when the track dried both black and gold cars were stranded in the pits with mechanics blocking the view of both cars as their colleagues toiled away. Whether they had a problem (brakes?) or were bolting on some trick bits they weren't telling.

Sebastian Vettel was sixth fastest in FP1

Neither Grosjean or Raikkonen did a hot lap in anger on slicks during the 'dry' spell that emerged late on in the session, and the team reported afterwards: "Mixed weather on the opening morning here at Spa limited Kimi and Romain to just a handful of laps, as the team awaits more suitable conditions in which to trial the latest E21 developments"

Although there were several spins and numerous off track excursions, there was no real damage to any of the 22 cars despite the challenging conditions which Spa-Francorchamps tends to always have in store when Formula 1 comes to visit. (GP247)

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