Oscar Piastri made a statement at Spa by topping the timesheets in Belgian GP FP1 — the only practice session of the sprint weekend — with a time of 1:42.022.
The McLaren driver was 0.404s clear of Max Verstappen, with Lando Norris completing the top three in a tight session that built to a frantic finish as teams finally bolted on soft tyres.
George Russell was fourth on mediums, ahead of Charles Leclerc, Kimi Antonelli and Lewis Hamilton. Only Racing Bulls and Mercedes set their fastest laps on mediums, with most others switching to softs late.
Franco Colapinto endured another scrappy outing, nearly colliding with Russell and suffering a big moment at Pouhon. He ended up 19th.
Isack Hadjar impressed with P10 — and amused fans after being spotted napping in the garage mid-session.
Carlos Sainz missed the first half-hour with a fuel system issue but recovered to finish 11th, just ahead of teammate Alex Albon.
Sprint qualifying kicks off at 4:30 p.m. local time (12:30 a.m. AEST).
| POS. | NO. | DRIVER | TEAM | TIME / GAP | LAPS |
| 1 | 81 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren | 1:42.022 | 23 |
| 2 | 1 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull Racing | +0.404s | 23 |
| 3 | 4 | Lando Norris | McLaren | +0.504s | 22 |
| 4 | 63 | George Russell | Mercedes | +0.576s | 27 |
| 5 | 16 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | +0.906s | 22 |
| 6 | 12 | Kimi Antonelli | Mercedes | +0.957s | 23 |
| 7 | 44 | Lewis Hamilton | Ferrari | +1.063s | 24 |
| 8 | 18 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin | +1.090s | 17 |
| 9 | 14 | Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin | +1.098s | 22 |
| 10 | 6 | Isack Hadjar | Racing Bulls | +1.100s | 19 |
| 11 | 55 | Carlos Sainz | Williams | +1.195s | 16 |
| 12 | 23 | Alexander Albon | Williams | +1.239s | 24 |
| 13 | 5 | Gabriel Bortoleto | Kick Sauber | +1.240s | 25 |
| 14 | 27 | Nico Hulkenberg | Kick Sauber | +1.448s | 20 |
| 15 | 30 | Liam Lawson | Racing Bulls | +1.456s | 21 |
| 16 | 31 | Esteban Ocon | Haas | +1.548s | 22 |
| 17 | 10 | Pierre Gasly | Alpine | +1.907s | 21 |
| 18 | 22 | Yuki Tsunoda | Red Bull Racing | +2.470s | 23 |
| 19 | 43 | Franco Colapinto | Alpine | +2.825s | 21 |
| 20 | 87 | Oliver Bearman | Haas | +3.055s | 22 |
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