F1 | Belgian GP Free Practice 1: Vettel and Leclerc immediately on top, Verstappen third

The first free practice session of the Belgian Grand Prix recently ended. Good return from holidays for Ferrari with the first two positions occupied by Sebastian Vettel and Charles Leclerc. Third place for Max Verstappen, ahead of his new teammate, Alexander Albon.

Fifth time for Valtteri Bottas ahead of Lewis Hamilton. Seventh time for Lance Stroll, ahead of Daniel Ricciardo and Sergio Perez; Carlos Sainz closes the top 10.

Good debut for Albon at the wheel of Red Bull, worth noting is an apparent decline for Lewis Hamilton who had several problems during the session.

Let's see in our recap what happened on the track this morning!

News – Green flag and go! The second half of the season begins! Mild temperature on the Spa circuit with 18 degrees in the air and 25 on the asphalt. Max Verstappen was on track immediately, followed by Carlos Sainz, Kimi Raikkonen and Kevin Magnussen.
All the drivers, except for the Mercedes, did their first installation laps in the first 11 minutes. Work is underway in the Ferrari pits on Sebastian Vettel's SF90.
We return to the track with Lando Norris and subsequently Lewis Hamilton complains of a loss of power. Bottas records the first time of the day but it is still a high time, Nicholas Latifi will do better than him in 1:50.844.

The Finn then improved to 1:47.535. Kvyat spins at the exit of Turn 1, Robert Kubica does the same thing.
Stroll takes the lead with 1:47.444.
Hulkenberg improves to third place and Ricciardo sets the best time in 1:46.790.
Virtual safety car on track... The right belly of Lance Stroll's Racing Point was torn apart.
Albon climbs to third position, while Verstappen takes the lead with 1:45.803.

Albon improves again with the second half, two tenths behind Verstappen. Leclerc in the lead with 1:44.788, but is overtaken by his teammate, Sebastian Vettel with 1:44.574.
Verstappen regains third position from Albon.
No interesting improvements, with the drivers engaged in race simulations. We then arrive at the checkered flag which concludes the first free practice session.

Belgian Grand Prix: the times of the first free practice session

Pos. N. Driver Team Time
1 5 S. Vettel Ferrari 1'44"574
2 16 C. Leclerc Ferrari 1'44″788
3 33 M. Verstappen Red Bull 1'45″507
4 23 A. Albon Red Bull 1'45″584
5 77 V. Bottas Mercedes 1'45"882
6 44 L. Hamilton Mercedes 1'45″973
7 18 L. Stroll Racing Point 1'46″198
8 3 D. Ricciardo Renault 1'46"426
9 11 S. Perez Racing Point 1'46"433
10 55 C. Sainz McLaren 1'46″557
11 27 N. Hulkenberg Renault 1'46″669
12 4 L. Norris McLaren 1'46″670
13 7 K. Raikkonen Alfa Romeo 1'47″024
14 8 R. Grosjean Haas 1'47″176
15 99 A. Giovinazzi Alfa Romeo 1'47″333
16 20 K. Magnussen Haas 1'47″488
17 26 D. Kvyat Toro Rosso 1'47″636
18 10 P. Gasly Toro Rosso 1'47″968
19 40 N. Latifi Williams 1'48″784
20 88 R. Kubica Williams 1'48"966