Rosberg leads Hamilton in first practice at Spa

F1 Grand Prix, GP Belgium, Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps

Nico Rosberg proved fastest in the first practice session at Spa-Francorchamps, edging out his team mate in the final minutes. Lewis Hamilton made it a 1-2 for Mercedes while Daniel Ricciardo was third fastest, just 3 tenths down on the leading duo.

Behind is Raikkonen in fourth, the Finn confirming he usually performs excellently at the Belgian circuit. His team mate at Ferrari, Sebastian Vettel was fifth fastest, ahead of three Renault-powered cars, steered by Kvyat, Verstappen and Sainz.

The most important news of the morning however was another crash by Pastor Maldonado. The Venezuelan lost the rear of his Lotus coming out of Turn 7. He then tagged the tyre barrier on the opposite side of the track, ripping off his front-right wheel. The Lotus crew yet again know what to do in order to get the car prepared for FP2. The crash caused a session stoppage of approximately 10 minutes.

Maldonado's team mate this session was again Jolyon Palmer, replacing Grosjean in the first session once again.

McLaren Honda meanwhile didn't really show massive signs of improvements, even though Honda bring a considerable engine upgrade to the Belgian Grand Prix. On the first few laps, Button reported very poor front end grip and the car getting very hot on the left hand side. Both men ended the session with the least amount of laps done.