Verstappen leads Ricciardo in FP2 at Belgian GP

F1i 17:54 26/08/2016
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  • Verstappen was fastest in FP2.

    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.

    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.

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