Rosberg tops FP1 in Belgium 2014

Nico Rosberg narrowly edged out Mercedes team mate Lewis Hamilton and Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso to set the pace as Formula One racing returned from its summer break at Spa-Francorchamps on Friday morning.

Rosberg, the championship leader, went fastest early on with 1m 51.577s, a time that Hamilton failed to beat by 0.097s with 1m 51.674s before the pair shifted their focus to race preparations.

Both had early minor moments at the Bus Stop chicane, while the Briton also had to save a big sideways moment as he negotiated the fearsome Eau Rouge. F1 racing’s most famous corner is much more of a challenge this year, with the reduction in downforce.

As usual on a Friday, Alonso got his F14 T close to the silver cars with 1m 51.805s, while Button got going after early delays to take his McLaren round in 1m 52.404s for fourth.

Pos No Driver Team Time/Retired Gap Laps
1 6 Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1:51.577 25
2 44 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:51.674 0.097 24
3 14 Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1:51.805 0.228 16
4 22 Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 1:52.404 0.827 21
5 7 Kimi Räikkönen Ferrari 1:52.818 1.241 17
6 11 Sergio Perez Force India-Mercedes 1:52.903 1.326 24
7 20 Kevin Magnussen McLaren-Mercedes 1:52.922 1.345 23
8 27 Nico Hulkenberg Force India-Mercedes 1:52.937 1.360 22
9 3 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull Racing-Renault 1:52.972 1.395 19
10 77 Valtteri Bottas Williams-Mercedes 1:53.172 1.595 20
11 1 Sebastian Vettel Red Bull Racing-Renault 1:53.369 1.792 11
12 26 Daniil Kvyat STR-Renault 1:53.594 2.017 21
13 8 Romain Grosjean Lotus-Renault 1:53.597 2.020 20
14 99 Adrian Sutil Sauber-Ferrari 1:53.703 2.126 14
15 19 Felipe Massa Williams-Mercedes 1:53.968 2.391 20
16 25 Jean-Eric Vergne STR-Renault 1:54.189 2.612 20
17 36 Giedo van der Garde Sauber-Ferrari 1:54.335 2.758 16
18 13 Pastor Maldonado Lotus-Renault 1:55.336 3.759 21
19 17 Jules Bianchi Marussia-Ferrari 1:55.782 4.205 19
20 42 Alexander Rossi Marussia-Ferrari 1:57.232 5.655 20
21 45 Andre Lotterer Caterham-Renault 1:57.886 6.309 24
22 9 Marcus Ericsson Caterham-Renault 1:57.977 6.400 24