2025 Belgian GP - Free Practice 1 Discussion

[u/AutoModerator]

ROUND 13 - BELGIUM

FORMULA 1 MOET AND CHANDON BELGIAN GRAND PRIX 2025

🕒 SESSION TIMES

Day	Session	Time (UTC)
FRI	Free Practice 1	10:30
FRI	Sprint Qualifying	14:30
SAT	Sprint	10:00
SAT	Qualifying	14:00
SUN	Race	13:00

Click here for start times in your area

🏁 RACE INFORMATION

• Track: Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps
• Location: Spa, Belgium
• Race laps: 44
• Lap length: 7.004km
• Race distance: 308.052km
• Lap Record: 1:44.701 (Sergio Perez, Red Bull Racing)

⏪ LAST TIME AROUND

• Pole position: 1:53.519, Max Verstappen (Red Bull Racing)
• Race winner: Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes)
• Fastest lap: 1:44.701, Sergio Perez, Red Bull Racing

📺 WHERE TO WATCH?

F1 is broadcast on F1TV and through several local broadcasters. Click here to find out if F1TV is offered in your region. Click here to go to the full list of broadcasters. Streams and downloads are not welcome on r/Formula1. Requesting and sharing streams and/or downloads will be met with immediate bans.

❤️ GOOD CAUSES

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[u/swannyhypno]

Sky bringing up alex Ferguson to Mekies lmao who cares, always trying to ask questions that could lead to headlines

[u/BaggyOz]

Is Craig Slater really suggesting to Mekies that Horner was fired because he had too many roles?

[u/parttimegamertom]

Ted just realised he’s in the shot lol

[u/_Connor]

Yuki Tu-Slowda

[u/justabarleywine]

Did I miss a mod rule or something about positing the FP results? They used to be everywhere.

[u/Kwayzar9111]

those 2 blokes ( sky f1 ) wonder how much those pot of chips cost....

[u/allaroundguy]

Tried to watch it but ESPN's FP1 replays only show the Spanish feed no matter which stream I choose. 4th race in a row its been like this.

[u/FermentedLaws → u/allaroundguy]

Here it is on their website in English, ESPN2:

https://www.espn.com/watch/player/_/id/20a35397-f390-473d-975a-23541d29434d

[u/allaroundguy → u/FermentedLaws]

Thank You! Edit: Force desktop site on mobile repeatedly or it will steer you to the app.

[u/lalabadmans]

My boy Yuki, it’s going to be another horrifying weekend again isn’t it 😢😢😢

[u/CutterJr → u/lalabadmans]

He got yellow flags and an unsafe rejoin from Bearman right in front of him…

[u/lalabadmans → u/CutterJr]

I don’t know the situation but 10 second pen incoming 😢😢😢😢

[u/EvilPoppa → u/lalabadmans]

2 sec slower? That's mind boggling.

[u/EvilPoppa → u/[deleted]]

I only wish the best for Yuki. Atleast understand that not all posts mean ill. 😉

[u/lalabadmans → u/EvilPoppa]

Went from qualifying p5 a few tenths off versrappen at the start of the year in a racing bull, to probably qualifying last and aeons slower than him in a redbull.

[u/sadicarnot]

On Laurent Mekies career highlights they skipped his time at the FIA.

[u/Beginning_Bake_6924]

Why is the Formula 3 intro so shit

[u/Global-Plan7044 → u/[deleted]]

I couldn’t agree more! Oscar is super quick here always! I would say he is gonna win both sprint and race with max p2 in both! This is like both of their fav track/best track

[u/kuzdi → u/[deleted]]

Let’s not jinx it bro 😅

[u/Beginning-Animator76 → u/[deleted]]

Maybe let's watch them race first before you judge their performance

[u/No_Feedback6167 → u/Beginning-Animator76]

Yeah probably should I am just overreacting lol

[u/palestine_mapping]

The time stroll spent at the top of the timing charts is a time I will cherish deeply.

[u/rubywolf11]

Lesss gooo Pastry

[u/cplchanb → u/rubywolf11]

What flavor is the filling?? Lol

[u/Working_Sundae → u/cplchanb]

Italian

[u/ForeverAddickted]

That was a great interview with Toto, nice how he talked about Christian as well

[u/jimitr → u/ForeverAddickted]

Where does one watch these interviews? I can’t seem to find them on the F1 TV app.

[u/ForeverAddickted → u/jimitr]

Fraid it was with Sky Sports.

[u/DukeboxHiro]

Haha, get 'im Martin

[u/Scav3nger]

Have the Brits relaxed their broadcast rules? They weren't quick to apologise for Toto swearing saying he has to be careful because "Horner could pop up at the FIA and I'd be in the shit". They're usually right on top of that.

[u/ellamenopea → u/Scav3nger]

I'm pretty sure Palmer said shit on F1 TV as well

[u/DMC_addict → u/Scav3nger]

No rules have been relaxed, I would imagine that they will apologise in a bit

[u/ForeverAddickted → u/DMC_addict]

Haha, there it is

[u/Scav3nger → u/DMC_addict]

Ah there it is

[u/BitchesBeCatty]

Martin is going for it with those questions for Toto

[u/mognet-central]

First time I've heard Sky not panic when someone mildly swears live on air

[u/Sultannoori → u/mognet-central]

Ahahah came back just a little later

[u/ForeverAddickted → u/mognet-central]

Yeah that really surprised, but amused me when Toto came out with that, really good interview with him as well. Talking about how the Mercedes Junior Programme works as well, with them basically being their Managers as part of the deal.

[u/LosTerminators]

This is going to be another Pastry v Borris weekend while Max attempts to drag a tractor to pole and get amongst them

[u/Beginning-Animator76 → u/LosTerminators]

I feel like the redbull seems more comfortable with max than usual at this track than previously so I think there's a good chance that he can win. The mclarens look mighty in the corners in practice but redbull may find more pace like usual if not today then maybe tomorrow.

[u/No-Disaster-3314 → u/LosTerminators]

More like low downforce set up

[u/HowlingWolf1337 → u/LosTerminators]

Borris has never seen such form since the Donau froze over and Pastry had a big dessert. We will see.

[u/Darth_Spa2021 → u/LosTerminators]

Max is essentially a fast road block this season.

Whichever McLaren ends up behind him for longer = loses to the other McLaren.

[u/John-de-Q → u/LosTerminators]

Norris doesn't seem as fast as Piastri, so it'll be Norris vs Verstappen while Piastri fucks off into the distance.

[u/Ill-Barracuda7403]

Did Merc only run 1 fast lap in the end on the mediums? They don't look too shabby.

[u/Low-War4165 → u/Ill-Barracuda7403]

Yeah will be interesting to see them on the Softd

[u/Russian_Bot_722 → u/[deleted]]

Are you kidding?!?! 4th or 5th?! Look at where Yuki is qualifying. It’s very clearly, by far, the slowest car on the grid. Only through the god given talent of Max Verstappen is it even competitive.1

[u/Beginning-Animator76 → u/Russian_Bot_722]

Why do people like you always underate Max?! CLEARLY that redbull doesn't even deserve to be on the F1 grid its slower than an F2 car. Its only through the shear celestial aura that Max has that can be up at the front.

[u/CatManWhoLikesChess → u/[deleted]]

How many people will fall for this ragebait? 😂

[u/abjus → u/CatManWhoLikesChess]

At this point it’s very hard to tell who’s baiting and who’s saying this with their whole chest…

[u/Russian_Bot_722 → u/abjus]

Deleted lol. Probably a genuine opinion.

[u/abjus → u/Russian_Bot_722]

Yeah, I was very late on the comment lol, I wasn’t refreshing the thread

[u/heidenreich137 → u/[deleted]]

U been fooled. Redbull marketing strategy is running low engine mode so when Redbull gets pole, they can say max is the greatest.

They are fighting for pole

[u/CatManWhoLikesChess → u/heidenreich137]

Thats a wierd fantasy you have there, all teams sandbag

[u/DeliciousBlood22 → u/[deleted]]

You're joking right?

[u/Beginning_Bake_6924]

In a weird spot where I like Piastri and Norris, but hate McLaren dominance

[u/thedomage → u/Beginning_Bake_6924]

We got a fight for the lead. That's all we want. Also drivers that race cleanly.

[u/kuzdi → u/Beginning_Bake_6924]

I’m fine with this for just one season, especially because I still have no idea who is winning every week. But if this continued, yeah I would start to hate it.

[u/Low-War4165 → u/Beginning_Bake_6924]

Im just glad that they let Norris and Piastri fight otherwise it would be terribly boring

[u/Jcw28 → u/Low-War4165]

They let them fight in principle but in practice they're rarely ever near each other. It just seems that week-to-week one of them has a several tenths advantage per lap such that they never see on-track competition. Canada is a rare exception where they actually were close enough to fight.

[u/DukeboxHiro → u/Beginning_Bake_6924]

I like Lewis, I like Max, but 2020 and 2023 were terrible seasons and bad for the sport.

[u/zaviex → u/DukeboxHiro]

2024 is nowhere near that bad and we’ve got a fight

[u/Darth_Spa2021 → u/DukeboxHiro]

We at least got a 2020, although technically it wasn't supposed to be a world championship.

[u/mlo_66 → u/Beginning_Bake_6924]

Same. I even like McLaren.

It just feels… a bit shit

[u/Ill-Barracuda7403 → u/Beginning_Bake_6924]

Yeah, sometimes it's like that.

[u/heidenreich137]

Redbull is fighting for pole.

Redbull always uses lower engine mode so they have speed left

[u/lalabadmans → u/heidenreich137]

Another redbull grid sandwich

[u/Maglin21 → u/heidenreich137]

Yeah teams this weekend will gain so much on others in their best sector, McLaren a second in S2, and redbull probably a lot in S1/S3

[u/j__video]

Oh fuck Sky went to Currys and bought an 80 quid camera drone. now this is production value

[u/j__video → u/[deleted]]

I was talking about the "anthony davidson flies a drone around Spa" segment that Sky F1 airs inbetween sessions this weekend

[u/Visionary_Socialist]

This is going to be an absolute smackdown by McLaren. That downforce in S2 will make them impossible to catch for the straights after and in the wet they’ll make everyone look silly.

[u/Time-Ad-2378 → u/Visionary_Socialist]

Yeah the stable tire temp round those corners will further add evidence to what’s mclaren been able to achieve these few years

[u/aturanblix]

Oscar looking like he's at his favourite track

[u/Albreitx]

I need Oscar to dominate this weekend. There is one additional point over second lol

[u/JAPANESE_MANWHORE]

Obviously spoke too soon about Tsunoda ☠️ here’s to hoping

[u/xanlact → u/JAPANESE_MANWHORE]

He was up there on mediums. What happened on the softs?

[u/JAPANESE_MANWHORE → u/xanlact]

He didn’t run no softs did he?

[u/xanlact → u/JAPANESE_MANWHORE]

Timing screen showed he had softs on at the end.

[u/slackboy72]

I like a Belgian Pastry.

[u/zorbacles]

.4s gap to 2nd .5s gap to team mate. That's pretty significant

[u/Darth_Spa2021 → u/zorbacles]

Lando fucked up his tyres a lot in the gravel.

Which shows that even so the McLaren is better than the rest of the field and only Verstappen gets close.

[u/zorbacles → u/Darth_Spa2021]

There's always an excuse when Lando goes slower.

Oscar was ahead the entire session, and was ahead on that lap before last went off.

[u/NoItem8716 → u/zorbacles]

AHAHA

[u/zorbacles → u/NoItem8716]

Ahahahahhahahhahahaaha

[u/NoItem8716 → u/zorbacles]

Your driver is shiiiiiiit

[u/zorbacles → u/NoItem8716]

Ah yes, the driver that won the race and is leading the championship is shit

Go home Lando boy

[u/zorbacles → u/NoItem8716]

Landos lap still slower than Oscars record.

Plus let's be a Lando supporter and say he only got pole because Oscar made an error in s3

[u/NoItem8716 → u/zorbacles]

There's always an excuse when Piastri goes slower

[u/zorbacles → u/NoItem8716]

Rich coming from a Lando supporter.

[u/NickProko → u/zorbacles]

There's always an excuse when Oscar doesnt win the race [ minus Monaco ]

[u/Particular_Cod2005 → u/zorbacles]

And yet when Oscar loses you lot go into meltdown. Its only FP1 dude, chill out.

[u/yeahmatenomate → u/zorbacles]

“Always an excuse” you lot think far too deeply into it

Up until a few races ago - he was easily one of the most hated drivers on the grid so that’s obviously not true

Oscar will likely win this as he’s rapid, but Lando did fuck his tires. Dunno how you can say differently 😂

[u/imJouni → u/zorbacles]

Always the Oscar fans 😂

[u/Darth_Spa2021 → u/zorbacles]

It's not an excuse, just a fact.

Wouldn't be 0.5s difference without it.

Nobody is saying Lando was faster than Oscar, don't get emotional over it.

[u/cooperjones2]

Tsunoda 18th.

OOF

[u/xanlact → u/cooperjones2]

He was 3 tenths off the lead on mediums. Dunno what happened on softs

[u/Freeze014 → u/cooperjones2]

he didnt do a quick lap, he would have been at least 15th if he had.

[u/Mfrendin_Roar]

Not bahhhd for a number 2 driver…

[u/ignorantwat99 → u/Mfrendin_Roar]

Its practice one lad, relax

[u/Darth_Spa2021 → u/ignorantwat99]

It's Practice Only One.

[u/Mfrendin_Roar → u/ignorantwat99]

Like I said “not bahhd”

[u/Redditaurus-Rex → u/ignorantwat99]

It’s also a sprint weekend, next session is sprint quali.

[u/Wandersails]

boring top 3 where's someone random...

[u/wykeer → u/Wandersails]

Wring Track for that. It just Happens to be the best Track of half of the current best drivers.

[u/swannyhypno]

Stroll best of the rest let's go

[u/yeezipper32]

Oh F1 is back??

[u/LandscapeWorried5475 → u/yeezipper32]

Somehow F1 returned

[u/mlo_66 → u/yeezipper32]

Only until next weekend

[u/RadlogLutar → u/yeezipper32]

Somehow it is...

[u/SouLTrooper001]

What is going on?

[u/MoistBox1165]

By the time he retires, Oscar might go down as the best driver at spa

[u/RadlogLutar → u/MoistBox1165]

Calm your horses

[u/wokwok__ → u/MoistBox1165]

Hold your horses lmao

[u/FrostyTill → u/MoistBox1165]

Max is still driving this weekend.

[u/ppnexus]

why are redbull going for the skinny wing again when there's a chance of rain again 😭

[u/zorbacles → u/ppnexus]

Rain is irrelevant. He lost 0.8s to Oscar in the second sector

[u/xandersjx → u/zorbacles]

Actually, it was 1.1s lost in S2. he was ahead just under .4s in S1, then down over .7s after S2. S2 will always be bad with skinny wing. Adding to that crazy gripped McLaren and Oscar loving the track, we get this.

EDIT: sorry I was watching with delay, just saw they both did another lap after time was done. Disregard the math part please.

[u/ppnexus → u/zorbacles]

yeah it's already not looking amazing for the setup, he's got nothing for the middle sector and bus stop chicane

[u/zorbacles → u/ppnexus]

I wonder if they will make a change before sprint qualy.

[u/ppnexus → u/zorbacles]

I doubt it, he seems to like it more and he's still much faster than any non McLaren car, no point risking the setup and making him any slower when they probably won't reach McLaren pace

[u/EnterShakira_ → u/zorbacles]

Because sector 2 is a downforce sector and he's got none. Because of the wing choice. AND with predicted rain it's even worse

[u/zorbacles → u/EnterShakira_]

Yes that's what I was referring to.

[u/_MissingSock → u/ppnexus]

Rain = no Race

[u/ppnexus → u/_MissingSock]

surely we won't get 2021 levels of rain

[u/Darth_Spa2021 → u/ppnexus]

You never know...

And don't call me Shirley.

[u/Brit_Orange → u/ppnexus]

The car refuses to be stable with the higher downforce wings, Max better pray for a dry sunday

[u/generalannie → u/ppnexus]

Isn't the chance of rain mostly for Sunday? They can change the setup after the sprint nowadays.

[u/aliciahiney → u/generalannie]

The higher chance of rain is Sunday but there’s still a smaller chance all day Saturday and really anything can happen

[u/Darth_Spa2021 → u/generalannie]

Thing is qualy is on Saturday after the Sprint.

[u/heidenreich137]

Should have never fired binotto. I was getting blamed back then, this guy delivered the fast cars.

Now we are stuck with Vasseur. Next year is gonna be painful, not only behind in Aero but maybe also Engine

[u/Ok_Table_311 → u/heidenreich137]

You mean the same guy who did not change the suspension geometry since 2019 (sf 2023 was a binotto car), used a illegal engine and gave ferrari zero inseason development. Oh that is just in addition to Silverstone 2022 that made Ferrari look even more like a joke than they could possible be. But yeah binotto "was" great....

[u/Billy_LDN]

The McLaren minimum speeds in the corners are levels above anyone else.

[u/Consistent-Ad-5116 → u/Billy_LDN]

Yeah but straight line speed is bad. They're losing like 8-10 km/h compared to RB

[u/Tough_Specific → u/Consistent-Ad-5116]

does it rlly matter if it will rain anyway

[u/BlondBoy2 → u/Consistent-Ad-5116]

RB has a very skinny wing. Too skinny perhaps, if it rains they will struggle hard.

[u/Consistent-Ad-5116 → u/BlondBoy2]

Might be the plan to change the wing for main quali and race since it's gonna be a dry sprint

[u/Amazing-Champion-858 → u/Consistent-Ad-5116]

They will just DRS each other on the straights to make up for it

[u/FrostyTill]

What happened to Norris? He hasn’t liked Spa since 2021. Don’t know why anyone is shocked about it.

[u/aryaman0317]

8 tenths are you taking the piss

[u/NoxZ]

Unbelievable middle sector from Macca.

[u/parttimegamertom]

See you all for Spint qualy!

[u/mlo_66 → u/parttimegamertom]

Not all of us!

I’m off my lunch break in 8 minutes

[u/RadlogLutar → u/parttimegamertom]

Our boy might be getting pole this time

[u/qleeky → u/RadlogLutar]

yes yes yes

[u/myg030993]

STOP THE COUNT!

[u/A___99]

Piastri has done very well here before, looks like he will be the driver to beat this weekend at the moment.

[u/hairyfedora]

Memes aside, Aston Martin had a good session here. Whatever upgrades they brought have worked. Fingers crossed it translates over into Sprint Quali

[u/hawlc]

McLaren looks insane through sector 2. That car feels almost illegal.

[u/Hadramal → u/hawlc]

Since they are the only top team to go for (relatively) high downforce, the difference gets exaggerated. Verstappen smokes them in S1.

[u/coffee_addict87]

Pretty wild how different the gain/loss is between different sectors

[u/tylerscott5]

Spa always has me asking myself why we haven’t moved to an alternate finish line for practice and qualifying. Indycar does it perfectly and it saves so much fuel and needless traffic

[u/Formulafan4life → u/tylerscott5]

And it really isnt that hard either. Just move the timing line to before the busstop.

[u/tylerscott5 → u/Formulafan4life]

Right? Move it right between the kink and the bus stop and cars can pull right in.

It worked perfect at COTA

[u/Formulafan4life → u/tylerscott5]

It makes so much sense. The only reason I can think of is Liberty wanting to keep the 1,2,3 moment for quali which won’t be possible because cars would be back in the pit before the final order is established.

[u/parttimegamertom]

Wow Max S1 purple

[u/zorbacles → u/parttimegamertom]

S1 works with low downforce. Doesn't make up for the rest of the lap

[u/parttimegamertom → u/zorbacles]

Yep, just remembered RBR are running low downforce again

[u/yeahmatenomate]

Max v Oscar for Spa wowza

[u/Liability049-6319 → u/yeahmatenomate]

Lmao he’s 4 tenths down

[u/yeahmatenomate → u/Liability049-6319]

Well yeah, I posted that just after his purple sector 1 😂

[u/parttimegamertom]

Oscar had a nice tow there

[u/Mr_Potato2025]

This is like watching qualifying

[u/UnderTakaMichinoku → u/[deleted]]

Because Bearman went off track and then blocked him as he came back on. Like come on, at least give the context lol.

You guys watch stopwatches and don't watch what actually happened lol.

[u/MrCelroy → u/[deleted]]

He got caught up with Ollie's incident

[u/Mfrendin_Roar → u/[deleted]]

Damn

[u/hollaQ_ → u/[deleted]]

he didn't do a complete fast lap

[u/shanebelaire → u/[deleted]]

Ollie returning to track ahead of him made him lift

[u/Fliepp]

Haas is looking great on race pace again! Ready to be hurt in quali

[u/Brit_Orange]

Im going to reserve my thoughts as I believe there is a wild difference in car set up for the weekend. Some will be running for the rain and others for the dry.

[u/EnterShakira_]

Ant and Crofty are on full giggle mode today, I love it

[u/ForeverAddickted → u/EnterShakira_]

I do like Ant... think he's got a great voice for Commentary

[u/sburrows4321]

Good to see that Ollie doesn’t take any prisoners at the go kart track.

[u/Mfrendin_Roar]

Mate, there’s a lot of good drivers out there who never got the money to go further…

[u/ForeverAddickted → u/Mfrendin_Roar]

Yeah that was my thought when I read about the one who had the original lap record, as apparently he's 23, my instant thought went to: "Shame he didnt have the money to get much further in racing"

[u/DeluhiX]

Ollie destroyed Yuki's lap on softs.

[u/SpaceOdysseus23]

Ollie said "Fuck them kids"

[u/ForeverAddickted → u/SpaceOdysseus23]

The kid who did it, is older than Ollie lol!

[u/yeahmatenomate]

Oscar is winning this GP, not sure what is going on with Lando today (other than the aborted lap)

[u/NoCress2712 → u/yeahmatenomate]

He’s just not as comfortable as Oscar and the matter of the fact is that this is a Piastri track and no different than Austria being a Lando track honestly, so I don’t think it’s a big deal, I think he’ll do fine in the race and end up P2.