Red Bull's Max Verstappen headed Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton at the top of the timesheet in the first practice session at the Belgian Grand Prix.
It's been a tumultuous few weeks for Verstappen after identical crashes during the British Grand Prix and in Austria qualifying that were related to the way his rear wing closed on entry to high-speed corners.
Red Bull have reverted to a conventional rear wing this weekend, a decision that Verstappen explained was "quite obvious", and the Dutchman responded by going fastest in the first session at Spa-Francorchamps - despite the old rear wing reportedly costing 0.2s per lap in comparison to the new-spec rear wing.
The four-time world champion was 0.145 seconds clear of Hamilton, who had his Ferrari team-mate Charles Leclerc for company in third.
Verstappen's Red Bull colleague Isack Hadjar was fourth fastest, but the Frenchman's weekend has already been tained after it emerged he will have a 10-place grid penalty for exceeding his allotted engine allowance.
Hadjar will not be the only driver to drop 10 places on the grid as reigning world champion Lando Norris has been penalised after McLaren opted to equip his car with a fourth power electronics unit, which exceeds the season limit.
There were issues on the other side of the McLaren garage as Oscar Piastri suffered a hyraulic pressure issue late in the session. The Australian produced the fifth-quickest time before he was forced to nurse the car back to the pits.
The Mercedes duo of Kimi Antonelli and George Russell head the betting to triumph in the Belgian Grand Prix on Sunday.
Championship leader Antonelli, who has failed to score points in the previous two races, was sixth fastest for the Silver Arrows in first practice, while his team-mate Russell was 0.356s shy of the Italian down in eighth.
Belgian Grand Prix Odds
(Odds will display when markets are available).
