2024 Belgian Grand Prix practice: session times, F1 schedule and weather

The 2024 Belgian Grand Prix weekend gets underway on Friday, with two hour-long practice sessions before another on Saturday, offering the first indications of the competitive order to come.

Your first chance to see cars on track will be at 12.30pm BST for the first Friday session (FP1), followed by the second (FP2) at 4pm. Saturday’s FP3 session at 11.30am is the final chance for teams to perfect their set-ups and strategies before qualifying on Saturday afternoon.

Can McLaren show a similar pace as it did in Hungary, where a 1-2 in qualifying was successfully converted into a 1-2 finish at the chequered flag? Will Red Bull‘s Max Verstappen re-establish his grip on a fourth consecutive drivers’ title? Or will Spa-Francorchamps‘ unpredictable nature and accompanying wet weather deliver a different race winner for the eighth time in 2024? The result of Sunday’s Grand Prix will be built on the work completed during the all-important practice sessions.

Completing as many laps as possible of the 4.2-mile course could also be as critical as ever this year, as the circuit has recently been resurfaced — creating extra grip which should reduce lap times and affect tyre wear. But with thundery showers forecast to fall throughout Friday afternoon, there will be little chance to gather dry weather data, putting the pressure on for the rest of the weekend.

 

When is free practice at the 2024 Belgian Grand Prix? 

The Belgian Grand Prix weekend will include three hour-long practice sessions: FP1, FP2 and FP3.

FP1 will take place from 12.30pm-1.30pm on Friday July 26. FP2 will run later in the same afternoon from 4pm-5pm.

FP3 will take place on Saturday July 27 from 11.30am-12.30pm and will be the final chance for drivers and teams to make tweaks to car set-ups before parc fermé comes into effect after qualifying starts at 3pm, meaning major set-up changes can’t be made from that point forward.

Free practice times in UK

All times in BST

	Friday July 26, 2024	Saturday July 27, 2024
Belgian Grand Prix practices	Free Practice 1 — 12.30pm Free Practice 2 — 4pm	Free Practice 3 — 11.30am

 

Free practice times: worldwide time zones

Country / time zone	FP1 (Friday)	FP2 (Friday	FP3 (Saturday)
Track time	1:30pm	5:00pm	12:30pm
Europe (CEST)	1:30pm	5:00pm	12:30pm
US (Eastern)	7:30am	11:00am	6:30am
US (Central)	6:30am	10:00am	5:30am
US (Pacific)	4:30am	8:00am	3:30am
Australia (Eastern)	9:30pm	1:00am	8:30pm
Australia (Western)	7:30pm	11:00pm	6:30pm
Brazil (BRT)	8:30am	12:00pm	7:30am
China (CST)	7:30pm	11:00pm	6:30pm
India (IST)	5:00pm	8:30pm	4:00pm
Indonesia (WIB)	6:30pm	10:00pm	5:30pm
Japan (JST)	8:30pm	12:00am	7:30pm
Kenya (EAT)	2:30pm	6:00pm	1:30pm
Malaysia (MYT)	7:30pm	11:00pm	6:30pm
New Zealand (NZST)	11:30pm	3:00am	10:30pm
Philippines (PHT)	7:30pm	11:00pm	6:30pm
Singapore (SGT)	7:30pm	11:00pm	6:30pm
South Africa (CAT)	1:30pm	5:00pm	12:30pm

 

How can I watch free practice for the Belgian Grand Prix? 

For viewers in the UK, every practice session will be broadcast live on Sky Sports F1, for paying subscribers only. Coverage will begin shortly before each session, with on-track action from F2 and F3 often taking place in between.

Sky subscribers also have access to onboard streams from each of the 20 cars, including radio messages, allowing them to follow a favourite driver on their phone while watching the main feed on TV. They will also be able to watch all the running live on the Sky Go app, as will Now TV subscribers.

Live timings are available through the F1 app, but UK viewers — along with Australia, China, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy and Japan — cannot watch live coverage on F1 TV Pro. This paid-for service is available in 105 countries and territories, offering live race coverage and onboard streams, offering fans an alternative to local TV coverage.

What is the weather forecast for the Belgian Grand Prix practice? 

The first full-day of on-track running at the Belgian Grand Prix is forecast to be wet — with heavy rainfall, thunder and lightning predicted from 6am-7pm.

This could severely impact the total amount of run time that teams will be able to utilise effectively, with the possibility of yellow and red flag periods.

Light rain is expected to continue throughout Saturday’s FP3 and qualifying sessions before eventually subsiding on Sunday for the Belgian GP itself.

 

What do F1 teams do during free practice? 

F1 teams will utilise all three practice sessions prior to the Belgian GP to familiarise themselves with the circuit and gather data which can help toward decisions on set-up, development and strategy. Each session only lasts an hour and teams will regularly schedule tasks for drivers to complete: from track acclimatisation to simulation qualifying runs and race starts.

This will be specific to each outfit, but here’s an idea of what each team will get up to in each session:

FP1

The first free practice session of the weekend is often where drivers will set the slowest lap times as they gather initial data on the circuit, the car and the tyres. It also affords a chance for teams to apply flow-vis paint or aero rigs to their cars in order to rest the aerodynamic efficiency of certain parts of the car.

FP2

The second free practice session of the weekend will often see slightly faster lap times as drivers begin to adapt to the circuit and fine-tune their set-ups. They’ll often also complete longer runs on a multitude of tyre compounds — weather permitting. Teams will continue to collect data and pit-crews will often get a chance to practice pit-stops.

FP3

The third and final practice session of the weekend often produces the fastest laps prior to qualifying, which takes place only a few hours later. Drivers will often focus on completing longer race-simulation runs as well as shorter one-lap runs in order to get a real feel for the car ahead of the competitive sessions. Last minute adjustments can be made, and teams will aim to finalise their race strategy following the results of qualifying.