Valtteri Bottas lead Max Verstappen as Formula 1 returned to the track at the Belgian Grand Prix on Friday morning.
The weather at Spa-Francorchamps wasted little time in frustrating teams with a shower over the pit-lane area causing drivers to initially head out on intermediates.
In reality, much of the 7km was dry resulting in a return to the garage for slicks.
With the area around La Source still damp, both Kimi Raikkonen and Yuki Tsunoda had spins at the famous hairpin and initial lap times were quite a bit slower than usual.
? “Anything you can do, I can do better ?
Raikkonen sends it for a spin at La Source ?
Tsunoda repeats the feat outside the pit exit ?#BelgianGP ?? #F1 pic.twitter.com/EFdwGkBcSE
— Formula 1 (@F1) August 27, 2021
That was until Max Verstappen began his day in earnest immediately going fastest by a significant margin on the hard tyre.
As more rain threatened in the final 10 minutes, Bottas, who used a very low downforce setup on his Mercedes, switched to the soft rubber and went fastest with a 1m45.199s, a tenth clear of the Dutchman.
On the contrary, Lewis Hamilton had a tricky first practice in 18th, complaining of a lack of top speed as he ran more wing compared to his teammate, and having his soft tyre run ruined by a near-collision with Nicholas Latifi approaching the final chicane.
A very tight moment for Latifi and Hamilton ?#BelgianGP ?? #F1 pic.twitter.com/RBg58gl8SF
— Formula 1 (@F1) August 27, 2021
Pierre Gasly sat third for AlphaTauri, ahead of the two Ferrari’s of 2019 Spa winner Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz.
Sergio Perez was almost a second off the pace in sixth, just ahead of Sebastian Vettel on what has historically been a strong circuit for Aston Martin under its previous guises.
Lando Norris was eighth, as Hungarian GP victor Esteban Ocon and newly re-signed Alpine teammate Fernando Alonso rounded out the top 10.
Lance Stroll and Daniel Ricciardo completed the upper midfield order in 11th and 12th, ahead of Antonio Giovinazzi in 13th for Alfa Romeo.
As well as his earlier spin, Raikkonen also touched the wall on the pit entry as the Finn finished 17th.
Finally, the two Haas’ brought up the field as Nikita Mazepin, who has a new chassis this weekend, led Mick Schumacher, who is running his father’s 1991 helmet design commemorating 30 years since Michael’s F1 debut at Spa.
Full results from Practice 1 can be seen below:
