F1-EL1: Mercedes is still there at Spa

The return of the F1 did not disrupt habits. THE Mercedes finished the first free practice session of the Belgian Grand Prix in the lead, Nico Rosberg setting the benchmark time with a time of 1'51"577, a tenth ahead of his rival Lewis Hamilton the Ferrari also stood out since the two F14 Ts finished in the top five. Fernando Alonso ranked two tenths behind the best lap, while Kimi Räikkönen was first by more than a second. But the drivers of the Italian team encountered problems since the Asturian encountered engine problems while Iceman suffered from an ERS failure.

The Ferraris are separated by the McLaren by Jenson Button. The Woking single-seaters seem to be regaining color since Kevin Magnussen follows in seventh place behind the Force India of Sergio Pérez and Nico Hulkenberg. Daniel Ricciardo et Valtteri Bottas complete the top ten ahead Sebastian Vettel and Daniil Kvyat, the reigning world champion who suffered gearbox and exhaust problems. Romain Grosjean managed to climb to 13th place, two seconds behind the best time, while his compatriot Jean-Éric Vergne only took 16th place, six tenths behind his Russian teammate, behind the Sauber of Adrian Sutil and the Williams by Felipe Massa. Giedo van der Garde, who replaced Esteban Gutiérrez, took 17th position ahead of Pastor Maldonado and Jules Bianchi.

Newcomers, Alexander Red and André Lotterer, attracted attention. The American who will ultimately have to give way to Max Chilton from this afternoon signed the 20th time, more than five seconds behind the best time, being followed by the triple winner of the 24 Hours of Le Mans who is more than six seconds behind but still ahead of his teammate Marcus Ericsson by a tenth. The Caterham drivers had to test the new nose of the CT05 in particular.

The second free practice session of the Belgian Grand Prox will be contested from 14 p.m.