2025 Belgian Grand Prix – Free Practice 1 F1 results (Spa-Francorchamps)

Thomas Maher 25 Jul 2025 12:43 PM

Oscar Piastri, McLaren, 2025 Belgian Grand Prix.

McLaren's Oscar Piastri set the pace in the first and only practice session at Spa-Francorchamps.

The one and only practice session ahead of the Belgian Grand Prix has concluded, with the times topped by…

Championship leader Oscar Piastri has convincingly finished in top spot in first practice at Spa-Francorchamps, ahead of this weekend’s Belgian Grand Prix.

Oscar Piastri back on top at Spa-Francorchamps

While foggy conditions on Friday morning may have resulted in the eventual cancellation of Formula 3’s practice session, conditions at Spa-Francorchamps had given way to sunny skies and warm temperatures by the time of F1’s first and only practice session ahead of this weekend’s Sprint action.

Many of the teams rolled out with updates to their cars, whether that be some circuit-specific changes such as McLaren’s new low-downforce rear wing, Ferrari’s new rear suspension, or Red Bull’s slew of upgrades across the RB21.

With just one hour of track time to get these changes fettled ahead of the first parc ferme period when Sprint Qualifying begins on Friday evening, it turned out to be a busy session.

Max Verstappen led the way early doors, showing promise in his newly updated RB21, with teammate Yuki Tsunoda slotting into third.

The first 45 minutes or so saw the top runners utilise the medium and hard tyre compounds, before the soft tyre runs began in earnest with around 10 minutes remaining.

Lance Stroll popped his Aston Martin into top spot to kick off a flurry of change, before McLaren’s Oscar Piastri took over at the front – Verstappen’s time was good enough for second place at this point, but half a second down on Piastri’s pace.

Piastri ended the session on top with a 1:42.022, with Verstappen in second after an improved second flying lap. The Dutch driver was quicker than Piastri through the first and third sector, suggesting a lower downforce level than the McLaren, having lost all of his time through the tighter middle sector.

Lando Norris, who had run wide on his first soft tyre flying lap, wound up in third and a tenth back from Verstappen.

FULL REPORT: Belgian GP: Oscar Piastri lays down a marker in FP1 as Verstappen and Norris falter