Verstappen leads first practice at Belgian GP ahead of Ferraris

Max Verstappen topped the timesheets in the first free practice session for the Belgian Grand Prix at Spa-Francorchamps, posting a lap of 1m47.070s Source: excelsiormx. The quadruple world champion edged Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton by 0.145 seconds Source: infobae, while Charles Leclerc was third, a further 0.062s back Source: excelsiormx.

• Verstappen's time was achieved without the 'macarena' rear wing that had caused unexpected downforce loss in Austria and Britain Source: excelsiormx.
• Isack Hadjar (Racing Bulls) finished fourth, the first driver more than a second off the pace Source: excelsiormx. Oscar Piastri (McLaren) was fifth despite a late hydraulic issue Source: excelsiormx.
• Andrea Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes) was sixth, followed by Lando Norris (McLaren) and George Russell (Mercedes) Source: infobae. Arvid Lindblad rounded out the top ten Source: excelsiormx.

Cadillac's difficult start Sergio Pérez, driving for Cadillac, finished 19th, 3.1 seconds behind Verstappen Source: excelsiormx. His teammate Valtteri Bottas was 18th Source: excelsiormx. The Cadillacs outperformed the Williams of Carlos Sainz (20th) and both Aston Martins Source: excelsiormx. Notably, Fernando Alonso was absent from the session; his car was driven by Jak Crawford, who finished last Source: infobae. Franco Colapinto (Alpine) was 15th Source: infobae.

There was a minor discrepancy in reported gaps: excelsiormx stated Verstappen led Hamilton by 0.1 seconds, while infobae reported 0.145 seconds Source: excelsiormx, infobae.