Practice 1 Report - The Repeat

By Dan Knutson in Spa-Francorchamps

One year ago, when the teams and drivers returned to action at Spa after the summer break, Mercedes teammates Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton were the quickest two in Free Practice 1 for the Belgian Grand Prix. And 2016 was a repeat of 2015.

The ambient temperature at the start of the 90-minute session was 75 degrees Fahrenheit (24 degrees Centigrade) and the track temperature was 79 degrees Fahrenheit (26 degrees Centigrade.)

Esteban Ocon, age 19, has replaced Rio Haryanto in the Manor for the rest of the season.

"It's a great opportunity for me to be driving here in Spa," he said. "So thanks to Mercedes, Renault and to Manor for that. It's great to start in Spa as well. It's a track I know, so it will help [me] to get up to speed. Let's see how it goes. I'm looking forward to it and I'm ready."

The line-up for the weekend was: Mercedes - Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg. Ferrari - Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen. Williams Mercedes - Felipe Massa and Valtteri Bottas. Red Bull TAG Heuer - Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappen. Force India Mercedes - Nico Hulkenberg and Sergio Perez. Renault - Kevin Magnussen and Jolyon Palmer. Toro Rosso Ferrari - Daniil Kvyat and Carlos Sainz. Sauber Ferrari - Marcus Ericsson and Felipe Nasr. McLaren Honda - Fernando Alonso and Jenson Button. Manor Mercedes - Pascal Wehrlein and Esteban Ocon; Haas Ferrari - Romain Grosjean and Esteban Gutierrez.

It was hot, sunny and there was no chance of rain as the session began. First out on the 4.352-mile (7.004-km) and 19-turn Spa-Francorchamps circuit were Palmer and Wehrlein.

The drivers had a choice of Pirelli's medium, soft and super soft compound slicks for the weekend.

Ricciardo, Rosberg and Hulkenberg tried out the "halo" cockpit protection device on their cars.

Rosberg set the early pace with a lap of 1:49.481 with the halo fitted to his Mercedes. Raikkonen was second with a lap of 1:50.727.

Rosberg was on a roll, and he lowered his time to a 1:48.348 while Hamilton slotted into second with a lap of 1:49.078. Vettel was third, a full two seconds slower than Rosberg who was trying out some prototype tires. Other teams including Force India and Haas also ran prototype Pirellis.

The fastest time in FP1 last year was a 1:51.082 set by Rosberg.

Force India has a history of doing well at Spa, and the trend continued this year as Perez and Hulkenberg slotted into third and fourth with laps on the soft compound tires.

So, at the 40 minute break, the top 10 were: Rosberg, Hamilton, Perez, Hulkenberg, Vettel, Raikkonen, Ricciardo, Bottas, Gutierrez and Verstappen. Alonso, who had yet to set a time and had done just three laps, was at the bottom of the list.

Verstappen soon headed back out and immediately moved up to sixth place using the medium slicks.

With just under 40 minutes remaining in FP1, Raikkonen used the soft tires to clock a 1:49.147. That put him into third but he was still 0.799 of a second off of Rosberg.

With just under 30 minutes remaining, the top 10 were: Rosberg, Hamilton, Raikkonen, Vettel, Hulkenberg, Perez, Ricciardo, Bottas, Verstappen and Grosjean.

Then Perez used the soft tires to move up to fourth place. Not many others improved their times, as they were on worn tires, but Ericsson did jump from 20th to 12th.

As the session wound down, Alonso remained in the pits with his McLaren undergoing repairs. And the repeating Mercedes drivers remained firmly at the top of the times.

The top 10 at the end of FP1 were: Rosberg, Hamilton, Raikkonen, Perez, Vettel, Hulkenberg, Ricciardo, Bottas, Verstappen and Gutierrez.