Verstappen fastest in first Belgium practice, F1 confirms penalty

Title leader Max Verstappen dominated the first practice session at the Belgian Grand Prix, setting the fastest time despite an impending 10-place grid penalty for Sunday’s race due to an engine change.

Max Verstappen has been handed a 10-place grid penalty for taking a new power unit ahead of the Belgian Grand Prix

Yuki Tsunoda will start from the back of the grid for multiple new components#F1 #BelgianGP pic.twitter.com/h9nw5q70kZ

— Formula 1 (@F1) July 26, 2024

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Verstappen clocked a 1:44.372 on soft tyres at Spa-Francorchamps. However, he will drop 10 places on the grid after exceeding his allocated number of power units for the season by taking his fifth internal combustion engine (ICE).

Hungarian Grand Prix winner Oscar Piastri finished the session 0.531 seconds behind in his McLaren, also on soft tyres. Surprisingly, Alex Albon of Williams secured third place, 0.727 seconds off Verstappen’s pace.

Mercedes drivers George Russell and Lewis Hamilton placed fourth and fifth, respectively, with the team running further upgrades to their car for round 14. Russell reported “no rear at all” during the session, while Hamilton noted excessive “bouncing”.

Charles Leclerc of Ferrari ended in sixth place, followed by the second Red Bull of Sergio Perez, who trailed Verstappen by nearly a second, finishing seventh.