FP1: Verstappen goes fastest from Piastri and Albon during first practice in Belgium

Max Verstappen set the pace during first practice ahead of the Belgian Grand Prix, going half a second faster than nearest competitor Oscar Piastri on a weekend where the Dutchman will face a 10-place grid drop for taking on a new power unit.

George Russell led several cars out onto the track as the session got underway in dry conditions at 1330 local time, before some early drama just a few minutes later when Daniel Ricciardo suffered a spin at La Source, with the RB only narrowly avoiding impact with the barriers.

PADDOCK INSIDER: With continued questions about Perez's future, Spa will be crucial as Red Bull face a call on their driver line-ups

Esteban Ocon, meanwhile, was called back to the pits shortly after heading out. The Alpine crew had soon put the car up on the jacks, suggesting an issue – later revealed to be a suspected water leak – on a weekend where the squad are running a special Deadpool & Wolverine livery.

Verstappen set an early benchmark on the hard tyre, putting in a time of 1m 44.550s, followed by the Mercedes duo of Russell and Lewis Hamilton. The Silver Arrows will be hoping for cooler conditions this weekend to favour the characteristics of their W15.

Following a lull in the action, a number of drivers had bolted on the soft tyre by the halfway point to put in some fast laps. This initially put Russell ahead, before Verstappen went back to the top by eight tenths from the Briton.

Away from the track, it was confirmed that Verstappen and Yuki Tsunoda will both face grid penalties this weekend after taking on new power unit components. This didn’t seem to be deterring Verstappen in FP1, whose fastest time looked to be untouchable, while team mate Sergio Perez reported some struggles with his RB20 over team radio.

READ MORE: Verstappen and Tsunoda set for grid penalties at Belgian GP after engine changes

Also raising concerns was Fernando Alonso, who asked his Aston Martin engineer, “Is the engine okay? How can we be slower in the first sector?". Verstappen’s session, on the other hand, remained untroubled, with the reigning world champion staying on top with his effort of 1m 43.372s.

This put him half a second clear of Piastri in the McLaren, ahead of Alex Albon for Williams in an impressive third. Russell led from Mercedes team mate Hamilton in fourth and fifth respectively, while Charles Leclerc went sixth quickest in the Ferrari.

Perez slotted into P7 on a weekend where he continues to face pressure after a run of tough rounds, with the McLaren of Lando Norris, Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz and Lance Stroll in the Aston Martin rounding out the top-10.

Pierre Gasly was 11th for Alpine, with Alonso, Ricciardo, Kick Sauber’s Valtteri Bottas and the Williams of Logan Sargeant following in 12th to 15th.

READ MORE: Ocon explains what convinced him to join Haas as he reflects on how partnership with Bearman can ‘pull the team forward’

The RB of Tsunoda took P16, while the Haas pair of Nico Hulkenberg and Kevin Magnussen were P17 and P18 ahead of the Kick Sauber of Zhou Guanyu in P19. Ocon, meanwhile, was unable to return to action following his reliability issues.

With the first practice session of the weekend complete, the teams and drivers will now have the chance to debrief and take a pause before returning to the track for second practice at 1700 local time.