Max Verstappen topped first practice at the Belgian Grand Prix, leading Lewis Hamilton's Ferrari by a slender margin. Championship leader Kimi Antonelli was sixth for Mercedes, one place behind McLaren's Oscar Piastri, while team-mate George Russell was eighth, 0.356s behind Antonelli. Antonelli leads the title race by 25 points as the season approaches its potential halfway point, though the final two Middle Eastern rounds remain uncertain amid the ongoing conflict involving the US, Israel and Iran.

Verstappen's pace came despite Red Bull reverting to their season-opening rear wing, abandoning the 'flip-flop' design that caused high-speed crashes for the Dutchman in the previous two races. The standard wing is estimated to cost around 0.2secs per lap at Spa-Francorchamps compared to the newer specification, which may return for the next round in Hungary.

The session was largely incident-free. Liam Lawson had a moment of oversteer at Stavelot early on, while Piastri suffered a hydraulic pressure issue in the final minute, forcing him to crawl around the circuit.