After conducting a three day test at the Monza circuit the AT&T Williams team would move to the Spa-Francorchamps circuit for the Belgian Grand Prix. The opening hour and a half practice session would get underway with overcast conditions greeting the drivers. There would be the normal rush of drivers taking to the track to complete their installation lap. This would include both Nico Rosberg and Kazuki Nakajima.

No rain was expected during this session. With ten minutes of the session run the circuit was empty with neither of the Ferrari's having taken to the track. Massa was sitting in his car as the minutes continued to count down. Raikkonen would be the first of the Ferrari's to come out. He would start a flying lap while team-mate Massa was also out on the circuit. Several other drivers were also out including Sutil, Vettel, Bourdais, and Webber. Raikkonen would pit without setting a time.

Nico said that he wanted to get higher temperatures in his rear tyres, maybe they could look at running higher pressures. Massa would set the first time with a 1m:50.329. Sutil was next with a 1m:52.948, but Vettel would move ahead into second with a 1m:51.752. Massa would improve his time with a 1m:48.945. Bourdais was third followed by Webber. Vettel would have a moment at the chicane while Massa was to nearly spin at Le Source. Both Williams drivers were out on the track. Sutil was now fourth with a 1m:51.424. Hamilton, Heidfeld, and Fisichella had also left the pit lane. Heidfeld was on the softer tyre. Sutil was now third, 1m:51.020. Nico was down in seventh with a time of 1m:53.118. This became eighth as Fisichella moved ahead of him. Hamilton's first lap would see him second with a 1m:49.784.

The circuit was now very busy with only a handful of cars still in their pits. Vettel would move past Hamilton and into second with a 1m:49.663 but Alonso would take this spot with a 1m:49.521. Nico had improved with a 1m:51.258 but was still in eighth. Both Massa and Hamilton would improve their times, Massa with a 1m:48.209 and Hamilton a 1m:48.787. They were in first and second. Alonso would also improve to take second from Hamilton with a 1m:48.768. Kazuki was down in thirteenth with a 1m:52.698. Massa would pit. With just over an hour remaining the order was Massa from Hamilton, Alonso, Vettel, Sutil, Heidfeld, Kubica, Trulli, Nico, and in tenth Barrichello. Several drivers were having problems with the chicane just prior to the start/finish straight. Kazuki had dropped to nineteenth, while Nico was in eleventh.

Kovalainen would improve to now be in sixth with a 1m:49.326. Team-mate Hamilton had pitted. Raikkonen had yet to set a time. Both Williams drivers had returned to their pits. Nico would drop to fifteenth with a time of 1m:50.881. Kazuki's time was a 1m:51.490. Piquet was now sixth fastest with a time of 1m:49.307. This would become seventh as Kovalainen moved into third with a 1m:48.734. Raikkonen was back out and would run wide at Le Source losing some time but he had moved up to be tenth with a time of 1m:50.057. Hamilton was back out while Nico and Kazuki were now down in seventeenth and nineteenth.

Massa would also return to the track as Raikkonen improved to now be in third with a 1m:48.452. Massa was still fastest with a 1m:48.209 followed by Hamilton with a 1m:48.266. Vettel and Bourdais were sixth and seventh. Slowest was Coulthard with a 1m:51.725. On his next lap Kimi would move to the top of the times with a 1m:48.075. Kubica would complain that his car was sliding like hell. Vettel would take to the grass at Le Combes but was able to continue while Massa would improve his time, 1m:48.088, but not his place. Nico and Kazuki were back out along with Heidfeld again using the softer tyres.

Nico would run wide at Le Source losing time seeing him 1.4 seconds down after just the first sector. By the second sector he was over four seconds down. The top four were all back in their pits so with forty minutes remaining the order was Massa from Raikkonen, Hamilton, Kovalainen, Alonso, Vettel, Bourdais, Piquet, Heidfeld, and in tenth Glock. Coulthard had improve to now be in twelfth, 1m:50.004. Nico and Kazuki were now in eighteenth and twentieth positions. Kovalainen was back out while both Williams drivers would pit.

Both would return with both Nico and Kazuki having their front wings swapped in what would appear to be a change in setup for both drivers. Raikkonen and Hamilton were also back out. Massa would join them. Massa was fastest with a 1m:47.813 followed by Raikkonen, 1m:47.868, Hamilton 1m:48.226, and Kovalainen with a 1m:48.683. Both Nico and Kazuki were over three seconds off the front runners pace. Eighth placed Piquet had completed a run on the softer tyre. With twenty seven minutes remaining Kazuki would pit.

with twenty one minutes left in the session Nico and Kazuki were now in eighteenth and nineteenth. Alonso would improve to be third fastest, 1m:48.104, but he was running on the softer tyre. Both Nico and Kazuki were out on the circuit looking to find that extra pace. Nico would improve one spot to be in seventeenth. This would become sixteenth as he improved with a time of 1m:50.241. Kazuki's current time was a 1m:50.767. Nico would pit, joined shortly after by Kazuki. With fifteen minutes left the top five were all back in their pits.

Glock would improve with a 1m:48.997 to be seventh fastest. Of the top five Hamilton was first to return to the track. Hamilton was on the softer tyre. He would improve to be third with a 1m:47.921. Kubica would improve to be in eighth with a 1m:49.139, using the softer tyres. A larger number of drivers were out on the track including Massa, Raikkonen, Bourdais, Piquet, Heidfeld, Nico, and Kazuki. Bourdais would improve to be fifth with a 1m:48.582. With Kovalainen moving up to fourth this would become sixth.

Most drivers were on the softer tyre. Massa would improve his time with a 1m:47.369, to now be 0.499 seconds ahead of his team-mate. Kazuki would move ahead of Nico with a 1m:50.233 while on his next lap Nico would move up to twelfth with a 1m:49.611. Kazuki was now seventeenth. Kimi would improve with a 1m:47.623 to now be 0.339 behind Massa. Only four cars remained in their pits with just under five minutes remaining. Hamilton would come close to losing it under braking at Le Source but was able to continue. Nico would drop to thirteenth.

With the end of the session the order was Massa, Raikkonen, Hamilton, Kovalainen, Alonso, Webber, Bourdais, Vettel, Glock, and in tenth Kubica. Webber had improve dramatically from close to the bottom of the times while Hamilton was ale to improve slightly with a 1M;47.878. Nico was now thirteenth and Kazuki eighteenth. It was very much a session where both Williams drivers struggled to find any real pace from their cars. How much of an improvement can be gained from the FW30 prior to the next session is yet to be seen but it looks like this is not going to be an easy weekend for the Williams team.

Pos  Driver        Team                      Time     Laps
 1.  Massa         Ferrari              (B)  1:47.284  
 2.  Raikkonen     Ferrari              (B)  1:47.623  26
 3.  Hamilton      McLaren-Mercedes     (B)  1:47.878  27
 4.  Kovalainen    McLaren-Mercedes     (B)  1:47.932  24
 5.  Alonso        Renault              (B)  1:48.104  26
 6.  Webber        Red Bull-Renault     (B)  1:48.428  29
 7.  Bourdais      Toro Rosso-Ferrari   (B)  1:48.557  31
 8.  Vettel        Toro Rosso-Ferrari   (B)  1:48.958  24
 9.  Glock         Toyota               (B)  1:48.997  26
10.  Piquet        Renault              (B)  1:49.068  25
11.  Kubica        BMW Sauber           (B)  1:49.139  25
12.  Heidfeld      BMW Sauber           (B)  1:49.185  26
13.  Rosberg       AT&T Williams-Toyota (B)  1:49.611  30
14.  Trulli        Toyota               (B)  1:49.625  14
15.  Coulthard     Red Bull-Renault     (B)  1:49.849  18
16.  Fisichella    Force India-Ferrari  (B)  1:49.986  27
17.  Sutil         Force India-Ferrari  (B)  1:50.117  19
18.  Nakajima      AT&T Williams-Toyota (B)  1:50.125  30
19.  Button        Honda                (B)  1:50.464  25
20.  Barrichello   Honda                (B)  1:50.905  25