Max in P2 after sole free practice session in Spa

Published on 25 July 2025 by Misha van der Kroon

Max Verstappen finished second in the first and only free practice session ahead of the Belgian Grand Prix. Oscar Piastri topped the timesheets at Spa, with a margin of four tenths. Lando Norris slotted into P3, followed by George Russell and Charles Leclerc, who completed the top five.

The session begins in mild conditions, with 22 degrees air temperature and a track temperature of 35 degrees. It’s immediately busy in the pit lane as the light goes green, with all teams eager to make the most of the sole practice session to fine-tune their setups. Carlos Sainz and Lance Stroll run into issues early on in the session: Sainz reports problems with acceleration, while Stroll also encounters a problem and returns straight to the pits.

Most drivers head out on the hard compound. Verstappen opts for mediums and takes to the track with some flow-vis on the front wing. He opens with a 1:45.545, the fastest time at that moment, before heading back to the garage. Not long after, he returns and clocks a 1:44.236, over half a second quicker than Piastri on the hards. This weekend, Pirelli has brought the C1, C3, and C4 compounds to Spa, skipping one in the range. This should lead to more strategic variation during Sunday’s race.

Supporting Verstappen this weekend is Simon Rennie, who steps in as race engineer for Gianpiero Lambiase, who is absent due to personal reasons. Oracle Red Bull Racing has also brought some updates to Spa, including a new front wing.

Leclerc briefly takes over the top spot with a 1:44.148 on the hards, eight hundredths faster than Max. At the halfway point, the top five stands as: Leclerc, Verstappen, Ocon, Hamilton, and Tsunoda. Stroll makes it back out on track and sets a time, and Sainz soon follows after resolving what turned out to be a relatively straightforward fuel system issue. An incident involving Franco Colapinto potentially blocking Russell is briefly reviewed but not investigated further.

As the session progresses past the halfway mark, few drivers improve their times. Most remain on hard tyres and appear to be focused on long-run simulations. Colapinto is the first to switch to the soft tyre, soon followed by Stroll, who sets a 1:43.112, over a second quicker than Leclerc. In the final ten minutes, more drivers gradually head out on softs.

Piastri, also on soft tyres, manages to go a full second faster than the previous fastest time. Verstappen, however, is unable to match the pace on softs, losing significant time in the second sector. Over the radio, he reports that the car isn’t rotating well through the corners. In his final attempt, Max sets a purple first sector, but again looses time in sector two. He does manage to improve to a 1:42.426, ultimately ending the session in P2, four tenths behind Piastri. Norris finishes third, with Russell and Leclerc rounding out the top five in Spa.

Contest Belgian GP: win a by Max Verstappen signed Red Bull Racing 2025 cap!

Results first free practice Belgium: