Rain at Spa, Carlos Sainz ahead in free practice, qualifying in jeopardy
Raining at Spa, Carlos Sainz ahead in free practice, qualifying in jeopardy
It is the Ferraris and McLarens that dominate in the rain and on the wet asphalt the first and only free practice session of the Belgian Grand Prix at the Spa-Francorchamps circuit. The best time was set by Carlos Sainz in 2’03″207 with 565 thousandths and 1″277 on the McLarens of Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris, fourth at 4″941 the other Ferrari, that of Charles Leclerc.
The Monegasque’s gap says a lot about the difficulties the drivers had in this session, and especially about how little they lapped, for example Red Bull world champion Max Verstappen did not even get a valid time and Logan Sargeant crashed his Williams without consequences.
Rain is expected throughout the rest of the day, so organizers are raising fears that today’s qualifying may be skipped. If so, the current drivers’ world championship standings would apply to the starting grid. But Verstappen, who replaced the gearbox, will still lose five positions. Here are the full results of the session.
1. Carlos Sainz FERRARI 2’03″207
2. Oscar Piastri MCLAREN MERCEDES 2’03″792
3. Lando Norris MCLAREN MERCEDES 2’04″484
4. Charles Leclerc FERRARI 2’08″148
5. Sergio Perez RED BULL HONDA RBPT 2’08″240
6. Alexander Albon WILLIAMS MERCEDES 2’08″394
7. Yuki Tsunoda ALPHATAURI HONDA RBPT 2’09″067
8. Kevin Magnussen HAAS FERRARI 2’09″229
9. Daniel Ricciardo ALPHATAURI HONDA RBPT 2’09″319
10. Nico Hulkenberg HAAS FERRARI 2’10″042
11. Fernando Alonso ASTON MARTIN MERCEDES 2’10″283
12. Lewis Hamilton MERCEDES 2’10″299
13. George Russell MERCEDES 2’10″475
14. Valtteri Bottas ALFA ROMEO FERRARI 2’12″085
15. Guanyu Zhou ALFA ROMEO FERRARI 2’14″002
16. Logan Sargeant WILLIAMS MERCEDES no time.
17. Lance Stroll ASTON MARTIN MERCEDES without time.
18. Pierre Gasly ALPINE RENAULT without time.
19. Esteban Ocon ALPINE RENAULT without time
20. Max Verstappen RED BULL HONDA RBPT without time.
