Summary

  • Hamilton fastest in rain-interrupted session, Raikkonen second

  • Saturday's final practice and qualifying live on BBC Sport website

  • Raikkonen fastest in first practice, Massa crashes heavily

  • Vettel leads Hamilton by 14 points in title race

Live Reporting

Gary Rose

  1. The Max Verstappen fans are out in force.

    The Belgium-born Dutchman will be a hugely popular figure here this weekend and Verstappen will be hoping that support can help kickstart his season after a stuttering first half of the year...

    ..

    ... and it's also a big weekend for Stoffel Vandoorne. This is the McLaren driver's home race but he already knows where he'll be on the grid on Sunday after a scheduled power unit change resulted in the Belgian being hit with a 35-place grid penalty.

    .Getty Images

  2. 'We have to do the job'

    Andrew Benson
    Chief F1 writer at Spa-Francorchamps

    Eleven races down this season and Lewis Hamilton has failed on four of them to maximise the potential of his car - and each time it has coincided with a race at which Mercedes have been struggling for pace, handling balance or both. Hamilton admitted this was the case on Thursday but said he felt he and the team may be on their way to finding a solution.

    “We know what is going on with our car and where it can be better. we don’t need to big it up or downplay it. we just have to do the job and we are here to deliver some very special performances over the next nine races.”

  3. A beautiful Belgian day

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  4. Listen to live commentary

    If, like Stuie and Kayleigh below, you are desperate for your F1 fix then you can listen to commentary of first practice - which starts at 09:00 BST - online from 08:55.

  5. Get involved #bbcf1

    Stuie Neale: Morning! To work but will have #bbcf1 & 5live sports extra as company. Boss is on hols so all good.

    Kayleigh: I'm not sure how I cope over the winter break when 4 weeks is difficult in summer. #F1 is back!

  6. The standings

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  7. Hamilton's big chance?

    Andrew Benson
    Chief F1 writer at Spa-Francorchamps

    .Getty Images

    The countdown starts here.

    Nine races to go to decide whether Lewis Hamilton becomes a four-time world champion or Sebastian Vettel a five.

    The German Ferrari driver starts with a 14-point advantage, but Hamilton has a golden opportunity in the next two races to close that on tracks that on paper suit his Mercedes.

    He admitted here on Thursday that he needs to find more consistency than in the first part of the season. This would be a good weekend to start finding it.

  8. Hello and welcome back!

    While I've spent the last few weeks sitting in BBC Sport towers in Salford, F1 drivers have been knocking about in all sorts of exotic places.

    It's been a well deserved rest for the class of 2017 after a pretty intense first half of the year and, with arguably three drivers in the battle for the title, it's only going to get more intense from here on in.

    Belgium kicks off the countdown to the end of the season. Let's crack on.

  9. Back to business

    Kicking back in Cuba...

    .Getty Images

    ... living it up in L.A...

    ..

    ... and climbing Kilimanjaro...

    ..

    ... the drivers have been up to all sorts over the last month but now the holidays are over.

    It's time to get back to business.