Valtteri Bottas boosted his hopes of retaining his seat alongside Lewis Hamilton next year when he topped the times for Mercedes in Friday morning’s damp opening free practice at the Belgian Grand Prix.
The Finn, whose place is under threat from George Russell of Williams, clocked a best lap of one minute and 45.199 seconds to outpace championship-chasing Max Verstappen by 0.164 seconds as Formula One roared back to life after a three-week summer break.
Pierre Gasly was third for Alpha Tauri ahead of Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz and Sergio Perez in the second Red Bull in the capricious conditions.
Sebastian Vettel was seventh for Aston Martin ahead of McLaren’s Lando Norris and the Alpines’ of Esteban Ocon and Fernando Alonso.