Verstappen leads Ricciardo in FP2 at Spa
Max Verstappen led team-mate Daniel Ricciardo in a Red Bull one-two during the second free practice session for the Belgian Grand Prix.
With Mercedes having been the only team to run the supersoft tyre during FP1, the rest of the field tried the faster compound int he second session and duly improved, with Verstappen setting the pace on a 1:48.085. The Dutchman was 0.25s clear of team-mate Ricciardo, with Nico Hulkenberg half a second adrift for Force India in third place.
Sebastian Vettel was fourth quickest despite a somewhat messy session, with the Ferrari driver twice going off at Turn 5. Vettel was a little over 0.9s slower than Verstappen, splitting the two Force Indias with Sergio Perez in fifth place.
FP1 pacesetter Nico Rosberg was the lead Mercedes in sixth place, with the German’s best lap of 1:49.161 coming on the soft compound tyre. Behind Rosberg, Kimi Raikkonen – who received criticism from Verstappen over team radio for “dangerous” blocking during the session – Romain Grosjean, Jenson Button and Esteban Gutierrez rounded out the top ten.
Lewis Hamilton ended the session 13th quickest as he too only used the prototype soft Pirelli compound tyre, focusing on race pace as Mercedes confirmed he will have at least a 30-place grid penalty after taking a complete new power unit ahead of FP2.
There was encouragement for Manor as Pascal Wehrlein was 11th quickest, 1.6s off the pace and nearly a second faster than new team-mate Esteban Ocon. Such was the close nature of the field, Ocon was down in 21st place with only Felip Nasr slower than the Frenchman.
Fernando Alonso recovered from a lack of running in FP1 to set the 12th fastest time, with McLaren having completely replaced his power unit as a result of a water leak in the opening session. The change sees Alonso use his sixth of each component to ensure he has the latest specification of Honda engine, carrying a 35-place grid penalty as a result.
Often hiding pace on a Friday, the Williams pair of Valtteri Bottas and Felipe Massa were 16th and 17th respectively, with Bottas needing an ECU change which limited his running in the middle of the session.
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Another driver suffering from reliability issues was Jolyon Palmer, who stopped at Turn 9 after suffering a loss of power. Palmer remained in his car for a number of minutes behind the barrier and managed to restart the car on the MGU-K, allowing him to return to the pits and rejoin the session later on.
AS IT HAPPENED: Belgian Grand Prix – FP2
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01
Max Verstappen
Red Bull
1:48.085
27
02
Daniel Ricciardo
Red Bull
1:48.341
27
03
Nico Hulkenberg
Force India
1:48.657
30
04
Sebastian Vettel
Ferrari
1:49.023
28
05
Sergio Perez
Force India
1:49.100
27
06
Nico Rosberg
Mercedes
1:49.161
33
07
Kimi Raikkonen
Ferrari
1:49.244
30
08
Romain Grosjean
Haas
1:49.419
20
09
Jenson Button
McLaren
1:49.419
23
10
Esteban Gutierrez
Haas
1:49.648
23
11
Pascal Wehrlein
Manor
1:49.716
31
12
Fernando Alonso
McLaren
1:49.772
30
13
Lewis Hamilton
Mercedes
1:49.782
33
14
Daniil Kvyat
Toro Rosso
1:49.916
25
15
Marcus Ericsson
Sauber
1:50.083
27
16
Valtteri Bottas
Williams
1:50.151
19
17
Felipe Massa
Williams
1:50.157
29
18
Carlos Sainz
Toro Rosso
1:50.194
25
19
Kevin Magnussen
Renault
1:50.375
34
20
Jolyon Palmer
Renault
1:50.562
32
21
Esteban Ocon
Manor
1:50.659
25
22
Felipe Nasr
Sauber
1:50.719
24