Kimi Raikkonen was quickest in the opening practice session at the famous Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps ahead of Sunday’s Belgium Grand Prix.
A trio of drivers including eventual second fastest Lewis Hamilton and local hero Stoffel Vandoorne trialled the halo in the opening part of the session following news that the device will be mandatory in 2018.
Felipe Massa was Spa’s first victim as the Brazilian clouted the inside kerb at the final part of Les Combes and was sent into the opposite barrier. Massa will continue to compete in the rest of the weekend as it stands.
His former team-mate Valtteri Bottas had a trip through the gravel at Fagnes after sudden acceleration in an attempt to avoid blocking the car behind him.
Fellow Finn Raikkonen topped the session on the ultra-soft tyres with a 1m45.502s, 0.053s quicker than Hamilton, though the three-time champion’s fastest lap was on the soft tyres.
Championship leader Sebastian Vettel was third on the ultra-soft tyres, 0.145s slower than his Ferrari team-mate.
The Red Bull duo of Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo were fourth and fifth, but over eight tenths away despite being on the fastest tyre.
Bottas recovered from his incident and was sixth at the chequered flag, Carlos Sainz and Esteban Ocon completed the top eight.
Daniil Kvyat, who is just two penalty points away from a race ban, was ninth fastest with Vandoorne tenth for McLaren.
The Renaults of Jolyon Palmer and Nico Hulkenberg were 11th and 12th ahead of Fernando Alonso, Sergio Perez and Lance Stroll who complained of a broken brake pedal at the end of the session.
Haas endured a difficult session with Kevin Magnussen’s headrest coming loose and were only 16th and 17th.
The Saubers of Marcus Ericsson and Pascal Wehrlein set the two slowest times of the session with only Massa below them on the timesheets.
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