Fernando Alonso surprised the expected frontrunners to claim the fastest time of second free practice at Spa-Francorchamps, but cooler temperatures and the eventual onset of rain meant that few drivers actually improved on their morning times, leaving
Ferrari to end the day first and second.
Although the rain was relatively fleeting, it did enough damage to warrant the middle of the session largely pointless in terms of fact-finding for the teams, and also proved costly for some as a proliferation of accidents saw several cars in need of attention well before the chequered flag.
World champion
Kimi Raikkonen was the highest profile casualty, losing the rear of his Ferrari heading into the unnamed left-hander after Rivage, and breaking the rear wing off against the tyre barrier. As the Finn repaired to the pits, he trailed undisclosed fluids across the run-off area, and these eventually found their way onto the circuit, mixing with the already tricky surface and almost certainly causing the later downfalls of both
Giancarlo Fisichella and
Nelson Piquet Jr.
The Brazilian's accident, closer to the end of the 90-minute session, was a near carbon copy of Raikkonen's, but Fisichella's occurred slightly further around the lap, the
Force India pilot having run though the remains on the world champion's incident. Fisichella was powerless to prevent his car rotating several times before backing into the barrier closer to Pouhon, and then rotating a couple of times more for good measure as it found the grass friction-free.
Debris from both Raikkonen and Fisichella's cars prompted race officials to throw the red flag, suspending proceedings for ten minutes, before allowing the field to at least try and approach their morning session times.
Through it all came Alonso, who posted a 1min 48.454secs best in the course of 21 laps either side of the interruption. The Spaniard was only three tenths slower than his morning time - which had left him fifth overall - but underlined the difficulty the entire field was having in getting down to their earlier mark.
