Verstappen leads Ricciardo in F1 Belgian GP second practice
Max Verstappen set the pace ahead of Daniel Ricciardo as Mercedes slipped back during second practice for Formula 1’s Belgian Grand Prix.
The Dutchman outpaced his former Red Bull teammate by just 0.048s to move to the top of the timesheets at Spa-Francorchamps in the afternoon, having shadowed the Mercedes duo in FP1.
Ricciardo impressed to put his Renault second in the leaderboard, but the Australian later stopped on track in the closing stages after a loss of hydraulic pressure in his R.S.20 to put a slight dampener on his day.
World championship leader Lewis Hamilton was third-fastest and just 0.096s off Vertsappen’s benchmark as the times continued to be close in the second 90-minute practice session.
Some three-tenths down on his Red Bull teammate, Alex Albon moved up to fourth in his RB16 with a stronger lap in the afternoon, while Racing Point’s Sergio Perez completed the top five.
FP1 pacesetter Valtteri Bottas could only post the sixth-quickest time as he wound up over four-tenths adrift in FP2 on the Finn’s 31st birthday.
Lando Norris once again finished inside the top 10, ahead of Esteban Ocon’s Renault, his McLaren teammate Carlos Sainz, and the in-form Pierre Gasly, who lifted his AlphaTauri into the top half of the timesheets.
Lance Stroll was unable to ensure both Racing Points made it into the top 10 as he split the AlphaTauri pair in 11th, ahead of Daniil Kvyat and the Alfa Romeo, with Antonio Giovinazzi turning the tables on teammate Kimi Raikkonen to grab P13.
Ferrari’s struggles continued in the afternoon as Charles Leclerc finished a lowly 15th, with Williams driver George Russell able to put his Williams between the Scuderia cars as the Briton outpaced Sebastian Vettel.
The four-time world champion was 17th in the FP2 order and was nearly a full two seconds off the pace. Vettel was only quicker than the second Williams of Nicholas Latifi and the two Haas cars.
After missing the entirety of FP1 due to a power unit change on both cars, Haas was back in action in FP2 as Romain Grosjean and Kevin Magnussen emerged for the final 30 minutes of the session.
FULL RESULTS FROM SECOND PRACTICE FOR THE 2020 F1 BELGIAN GRAND PRIX.
