Vettel fastest, Ferrari dominant; Albon within tenth of Verstappen; Mercedes 1.3s off the pace, Hamilton has throttle and sensor issues
Friday 30 August 2019 13:52, UK
Sebastian Vettel topped a Ferrari one-two in first practice for the Belgian GP, while Red Bull debutant Alex Albon also caught the eye, as Formula 1 returned to action after its summer break.
Ferrari, without a win in F1 2019, are expected to be quick this weekend due to the famous Spa circuit's long straights and high-speed corners, and Vettel set the pace with a 1:44.574, two-tenths ahead of team-mate Charles Leclerc, to give the Scuderia the perfect start on Friday morning.
When's the Belgian GP on Sky?
What does Albon need to do at Red Bull?
Max Verstappen, Vettel and Leclerc's closest challenger in third, was 0.9s back on softs in the lead Red Bull but encouragingly for the team, Albon impressed in his first session since swapping seats with Pierre Gasly.
Albon, who has a grid penalty this weekend due to Honda's new 'Spec 4' power unit, was within a tenth of his in-form team-mate Verstappen - finishing fourth in Practice One.
The season's dominant team Mercedes are also running an upgraded engine but made a quiet start to the weekend with Valtteri Bottas and Lewis Hamilton only fifth and sixth, 1.3s off the pace as they posted their fastest times on the medium tyres.
Hamilton, the championship leader by a mighty 62 points after eight wins from 2019's first 12 races, endured throttle and telemetry issues in the first half of the session.
"It's hard to read into times due to the tyres but I would think Ferrari are a few tenths faster than Mercedes at this part of the weekend," said Sky F1's David Croft.
"We'll get a much better indication of where they are in P2 this afternoon."
Stroll tops midfield as F1 returns
After a busier-than-expected Thursday filled with driver market announcements as well as F1 2020 calendar reveal, it was time to get back down to track action on Friday and Ferrari will be happy with their start, especially considering their two main rivals have both introduced engine upgrades.
And the rest of the top-10 was also filled by teams who have new power units, with Racing Point in particular enjoying a jump in performance.
Lance Stroll, whose engine cover ripped off at one stage in the session, was seventh and 'best of the rest', only two tenths down of the Mercedes. His team-mate Sergipo Perez, without a point since the fourth round of the season, was ninth.
Daniel Ricciardo and McLaren's Carlos Sainz were eighth and 10th respectively, both boosted by Renault's new engine.
There were doubts over Kimi Raikkonen's fitness coming into the weekend, so much so that Alfa Romeo reserve Marcus Ericsson is missing an IndyCar round to be in Belgium as cover, but the Finn completed 20 laps in first practice, finishing 13th.
He led a Ferrari-powered trio of Romain Grosjean, team-mate Antonio Giovinbazzi, and Kevin Magnussen, while Toro Rosso were only 17th and 18th.
Gasly finished behind new team-mate Daniil Kvyat.
Nicholas Latifi, stepping in for George Russell for P1 at Williams, was a tenth faster than Robert Kubica.
