To no surprise the Mercedes duo of Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton have topped the timetable in the first practice session at Spa-Francorchamps.
Rosberg was a mere tenth of a second faster than Hamilton, who completed one less lap than his team-mate.
Fernando Alonso was next for Ferrari, ending the session not far off in third and 0.2 seconds of the Mercedes pace.
His team-mate Kimi Raikkonen made a surprise visit to the top five despite suffering a brief interruption to his session when his ERS overheated.
Debutant Andre Lotterer finished his first session with Caterham a tenth of a second quicker than his team-mate Marcus Ericsson in last place.
Jenson Button split the two Ferrari’s in fourth position showing encouraging signs for McLaren this weekend. At a circuit that places emphasis over downforce, Mercedes powered cars will have an advantage throughout the weekend.
Williams seemed to have made a slow start coming back from the summer break, as Valtteri Bottas was their highest placed driver in 10th. Felipe Massa was further down the order in 15th position behind Adrian Sutil’s Sauber.
Daniel Ricciardo was the quickest for Red Bull, ending the session in ninth position and fourth tenths quicker than reigning world champion team-mate Sebastian Vettel in 11th.
2014 Belgian Formula 1 Grand Prix – Free Practice 1 Results:
Driver | Team / Entry | Time | Gap | Laps | ||
1. | Nico Rosberg | ![]() |
Mercedes AMG Petronas F1W05 | 1:51.577 | 25 | |
2. | Lewis Hamilton | ![]() |
Mercedes AMG Petronas F1W05 | 1:51.674 | + 0.097 | 24 |
3. | Fernando Alonso | ![]() |
Scuderia Ferrari F14T | 1:51.805 | + 0.228 | 16 |
4. | Jenson Button | ![]() |
McLaren Mercedes MP4-29 | 1:52.404 | + 0.827 | 21 |
5. | Kimi Räikkönen | ![]() |
Scuderia Ferrari F14T | 1:52.818 | + 1.241 | 17 |
6. | Sergio Pérez | ![]() |
Force India Mercedes Mercedes VJM07 | 1:52.903 | + 1.326 | 24 |
7. | Kevin Magnussen | ![]() |
McLaren Mercedes MP4-29 | 1:52.922 | + 1.345 | 23 |
8. | Nico Hülkenberg | ![]() |
Force India Mercedes Mercedes VJM07 | 1:52.937 | + 1.360 | 22 |
9. | Daniel Ricciardo | ![]() |
Infiniti Red Bull Racing Renault RB10 | 1:52.972 | + 1.395 | 19 |
10. | Valtteri Bottas | ![]() |
Williams Martini Racing Mercedes FW36 | 1:53.172 | + 1.595 | 20 |
11. | Sebastian Vettel | ![]() |
Infiniti Red Bull Racing Renault RB10 | 1:53.369 | + 1.792 | 11 |
12. | Daniil Kvyat | ![]() |
Scuderia Toro Rosso Renault STR9 | 1:53.594 | + 2.017 | 21 |
13. | Romain Grosjean | ![]() |
Lotus F1 Team Renault E22 | 1:53.597 | + 2.020 | 20 |
14. | Adrian Sutil | ![]() |
Sauber F1 Team Ferrari C33 | 1:53.703 | + 2.126 | 14 |
15. | Felipe Massa | ![]() |
Williams Martini Racing Mercedes FW36 | 1:53.968 | + 2.391 | 20 |
16. | Jean-Éric Vergne | ![]() |
Scuderia Toro Rosso Renault STR9 | 1:54.189 | + 2.612 | 20 |
17. | Giedo van der Garde | ![]() |
Sauber F1 Team Ferrari C33 | 1:54.335 | + 2.758 | 16 |
18. | Pastor Maldonado | ![]() |
Lotus F1 Team Renault E22 | 1:55.336 | + 3.759 | 21 |
19. | Jules Bianchi | ![]() |
Marussia F1 Team Ferrari MR03 | 1:55.782 | + 4.205 | 19 |
20. | Alexander Rossi | ![]() |
Marussia F1 Team Ferrari MR03 | 1:57.232 | + 5.655 | 20 |
21. | André Lotterer | ![]() |
Caterham F1 Team Renault CT05 | 1:57.886 | + 6.309 | 24 |
22. | Marcus Ericsson | ![]() |
Caterham F1 Team Renault CT05 | 1:57.977 | + 6.400 | 24 |
Images via Sutton Images
Josh Kruse
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