Belgian F1 Grand Prix 2016 Qualifying: Results, Times from Friday's Practice

Mercedes Nico Rosberg set the early pace at the Formula One Belgium Grand Prix on Friday, topping the standings in first practice at Spa.On the quickest tyre compound, the German was comfortably ahead of his team-mate Lewis Hamilton, posting a time of one minute, 48.348 seconds. Ferraris Kimi Raikkonen was the third-quickest in the opening stanza.Earlier in the day, it was confirmed Hamilton will serve a 15-place grid penalty in Sundays race after he was fitted with a new engine, per Sky Sports. Further expected adjustments from the Mercedes team could yet see the world champion incur further sanctions and pushed to the back of the pack.Heres a recap of the action so far from Belgium and the times posted by the drivers in practice.FP1 RecapThe F1 Twitter feed provided the final standings from the session, with Rosberg posting the quickest lap of the morning at Spa:While much of the talk early in the day surrounded the penalty picked up by Hamilton, there was plenty to catch the attention out on the track as the drivers summer break ended.There was a new face on view, too. For Manor, 19-year-old Esteban Ocon replaced Rio Haryanto and will battle with Pascal Wehrlein for the remainder of the season. The teenagers first session in Formula 1 ended with a respectable 16th-place finish on the leaderboard, although he did have one embarrassing moment when knocking over a cone coming into the pit lane, per F1 Series:Some of the drivers opted to test out some new features, too. Per the F1 Twitter feed, Red Bulls Daniel Ricciardo donned the halo technology during FP1:As the session settled down, focus shifted to the times being set by the contenders for the top spots.This weekend is a significant one for Rosberg, who has a brilliant chance to cut down the 19-point advantage Hamilton carved out over him prior to the break. The German, also donning the halo, seemed intent to lay down a marker and set a scintillating 1:48.348 on the supersoft tyre compound.The Mercedes team seemed pretty pleased with that effort:It was a time the chasers found tough to get close to. Hamilton, for whom qualifying will not be quite so significant this weekend, made his way around the iconic circuit 0.730 seconds down on his rival, with Raikkonen a tenth further back in his Ferrari.One area of concern for Rosberg will be a potential issue with the clutch while he practised his start. It was unusual how quickly the clutch fully closed, he told his team, per BBC Sport.Elsewhere, despite an engine upgrade ahead of the weekend, McLaren man Fernando Alonso had a morning to forget. Work on his car meant the two-time world champion didnt set a time in FP1.
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