Ferrari’s Kimi Räikkönen clocked the quickest time during first practice for the Belgian Grand Prix as Formula 1 returned to action following the summer break.
Räikkönen, whose contract extension for 2018 was confirmed earlier this week, put in a late effort on Ultrasoft tyres to set a time of 1:45.502, 0.053s faster than Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton.
Hamilton’s quickest lap came on the yellow-banded Soft compound, as he in turn finished almost a tenth up on title rival Sebastian Vettel, whose best effort was set on the Ultrasofts.
Vettel finished three-quarters of a second clear of Red Bull duo Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo, the pair separated by just 0.050s on the Ultrasoft compound.
Valtteri Bottas led the way on Softs before his rivals made gains, slipping down to sixth by the chequered flag, and escaped relatively unscathed after he suffered a moment through Pif Paf.
Bottas slid through the gravel and brushed the wall, sustaining minor front wing damage, but was able to pit for repairs and return to action soon after.
Carlos Sainz Jr. spearheaded the midfield charge on Ultrasofts for Toro Rosso, a full second behind sixth-placed Bottas, while Force India's Esteban Ocon was eighth, on Softs.
Toro Rosso’s Daniil Kvyat and McLaren-Honda’s Stoffel Vandoorne, preparing for his first home Grand Prix, completed the top 10.
Renault’s Jolyon Palmer edged out team-mate Nico Hulknberg to take 11th spot, ahead of Fernando Alonso (McLaren) and Sergio Pérez (Force India).
Williams' Lance Stroll was 15th, in front of Haas duo Kevin Magnussen and Romain Grosjean, while Sauber again finished firmly off the pace, Marcus Ericsson 1.5s behind Grosjean.
Pascal Wehrlein was 19th, a second adrift of his team-mate, having been affected by technical problems during the early stages of running.
Felipe Massa completed only two installation laps before bringing his session to a premature end when he crashed heavily through Malmedy.
Massa, on his first flying lap, encountered a dab of oversteer midway through the corner and was spat through the gravel, before slamming into the outside barriers.
Substantial damage was sustained to the left-hand-side of the FW40 and the session was red-flagged for nine minutes while the car was retrieved.
Elsewhere, the 'halo' device was run by Hamilton, Vandoorne and Ericsson for an installation lap, as evaluations continue ahead of its 2018 introduction.
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