Sainz sets early pace as red flag disrupts running in FP1

Carlos Sainz topped the time sheets in Friday's first practice for the Belgian Grand Prix alongside Ferrari teammate Charles Leclerc.

Sainz set a 1:46.538 on the Soft tyre halfway through the session, while Leclerc – who will take a grid penalty for the race – was just 0.069s off his time.

Max Verstappen was third quickest for Red Bull, having been one of the first drivers to set a time on the Soft tyre, while George Russell and Lance Stroll rounded out the top five.

The session was disrupted halfway through when Kevin Magnussen brought out the red flag by stopping on the main straight after the pit exit. Haas believe it was a suspected high voltage problem.

When the session restarted, a brief spell of rain stopped any driver from being able to improve their times.

Latifi escapes penalty after close call with Verstappen

Both Williams drivers set impressive times, with Alex Albon ending the session sixth quickest while Nicholas Latifi narrowly missed the top 10 by 0.011s from Sergio Perez in 11th.

Latifi escaped a penalty after the Williams mechanics released his car into the path of Verstappen, causing the Red Bull driver to take avoiding action in the tight pit lane.

Esteban Ocon experienced mechanical problems early on, which meant that he only completed five laps before spending the rest of the session in the pits.

On his F1 weekend debut with AlphaTauri, Liam Lawson finished the session 19th ahead of Valtteri Bottas, who was last having only completed two laps before pitting with a technical issue in his Alfa Romeo.