Oscar Piastri put McLaren on top of the times in the sole practice session for this weekend’s Belgian Grand Prix at Spa.

The championship leader jumped to first place in the final moments of the 60-minute session, when the frontrunners switched to the softest of the Pirelli compounds available this weekend.

McLaren driver Piastri, leading the championship for eight points, finished nearly half a second quicker than Max Verstappen in the Red Bull.

Verstappen’s chances have been boosted by Red Bull bringing a big upgrade package to Spa, including a new front wing and suspension, revised sidepods and a modified engine cover.

Lando Norris, the winner of the last two races, finished third after a last-gasp effort, the Briton having wasted his previous lap after going off track during his soft-tyre run near the end of the running.

Mercedes‘ George Russell was fourth fastest, using the medium tyres for his best lap.

Before the soft-tyre runs, the order at the top had been pretty close, but that changed with the red-walled rubber.

Charles Leclerc, whose team has finally introduced its revised suspension after months of development, had been quickest for most of the session, which ran in mostly sunny conditions, but dropped down to fifth with the soft-tyre runs.

Kimi Antonelli completed a promising start to the weekend for Mercedes with the sixth-fastest time, also on mediums, ahead of the second Ferrari of Lewis Hamilton.

Carlos Sainz‘s run of bad luck continued right at the start of the session, the Spaniard reporting he was unable to accelerate as he left the pits for his opening lap.

The Williams driver had to crawl slowly back to his garage, losing valuable time in the only practice session of the sprint weekend.

Sainz finally made it back out at the halfway point of the session. It was later reported that he had an issue with the fuel system of his car.

Aston Martin‘s Lance Stroll also reported problems at the start of the running, but the Canadian managed to return to action a few minutes later.

Belgian GP practice results