» Rosberg edges Hamilton in FP1

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 10^th. Felipe Massa was further down the order in 15^th 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 11^th.

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