Leclerc pips Vettel as Ferrari dominate Belgian GP practice

Sebastian Vettel

Spa-Francorchamps (Belgium): Charles Leclerc-led Sebastian Vettel (in pic) in a Ferrari one-two on the opening day of practice for the Belgian Grand Prix here yesterday.

The Monegasque lapped the 7-km long Spa-Francorchamps circuit in one minute, 44.123 seconds. That put him 0.630 seconds clear of Vettel who had been fastest in the morning. Valtteri Bottas, confirmed alongside Lewis Hamilton at Mercedes for another year on Thursday, was the Ferrari pair's closest challenger in third.

Hamilton was fourth. The Mercedes pair, fifth and sixth in the morning, were nearly a second off Leclerc's benchmark. Hamilton in particular had a troublesome day, with throttle and telemetry problems in the opening session.

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