Belgium – Free Practice 2: Verstappen and Ricciardo dominate, Rosberg and Hamilton go into hiding

Still under a bright sun and summer temperature, 31 degrees in the air and 38 degrees on the track, the second practice session of this Ardennes weekend was notably initiated by Fernando Alonso. The Spaniard was eager to get back in action after a morning spoiled by a water leak on his new Honda engine. In his misfortune, after the penalty resulting from the change, the double world champion will still be able to benefit from this engine upgrade brought by the Japanese manufacturer.

In a different program, Mercedes leaves the session’s command to Force India and Red Bull

Other concerns, but still bad mood, this time at Haas and Romain Grosjean at the start of this second session. For the Frenchman, the rear end was simply “a disaster” and the front “was hardly any better” at the time of his run!

At Ferrari, Sebastian Vettel was annoyed on his radio about an unfortunate slowdown by a Toro Rosso, preventing him from completing his first real time of the day. A new sign of the current frustration of the four-time world champion, certainly disappointed by the lack of competitiveness of his SF16-H.

Anyway, the first laps were ticking by and, after the first fifteen minutes, his teammate Kimi Räikkönen was temporarily in the lead with a time of 1:49.815. Indeed, this time was quickly beaten by Lewis Hamilton, by 0’033″.

A lap time set just before the first yellow flag of the day, waved due to Jolyon Palmer losing power, forcing him to park his Renault on the exit of the kerb in the second sector. However, the Englishman managed to restart and return to his pit, in order to repair his ailing car more quickly and, most importantly, to be able to get back on track before the end of the session.

— Renault Sport F1 (@RenaultSportF1) August 26

After the green flag, a large handful of drivers began to switch to super-soft tires, including the Force India team representatives, who even took the lead of the session for a few minutes, with Hülkenberg ahead of Pérez, just before Sebastian Vettel moved into second place.

And now the Hulk jumps to P1! 1:48.657 for Nico to make a SFI 1-2! #BelgianGP #FeelTheForce

— Sahara Force India (@ForceIndiaF1) 26 août /f1/actualite/21249-penalites-pour-fernando-alonso-et-marcus-ericsson-a-spa.html

This text is not translatable.

Further down the timesheet, Lewis Hamilton was busy “breaking in” his new equipment: a turbo and an MGU-H, both changed during the lunch break. At the same time, the reigning world champion was experiencing significant vibrations on his set of medium tires.

Simulations “qualifs” ahead of the 2015 benchmarks!

Curious coincidence at this precise moment of the session, Verstappen was in turn criticizing Räikkönen for “dangerous” driving. Reverse situation considering the confrontation between the two men two races ago in Budapest…

But the young Dutchman was not at all weakened by this maneuver. A few laps later, the Red Bull driver took the lead, with a time of 1’48″085. An already very interesting performance, which would have placed him in third position on the 2015 grid!

The hour of testing had passed, and none of the Mercedes drivers were at the top. Not even Nico Rosberg, who discreetly was in sixth place, more than a second behind Verstappen. Even though the driver with number 6 did not use the super-soft tires, does the advantage that Mercedes has over the competition seem to be diminishing on this 7.004-kilometer track?

Finally, the ranking gradually began to solidify in the last half hour, with the 22 players switching to long stints. With some interesting initial lessons, as most drivers were constantly struggling with grip as the laps went by. The loss seems faster this year given the current state of the track, but the mild weather conditions around Spa make the cars wear out more easily.

It was the Red Bull team that secured the top two positions under the checkered flag. The RB12 gained the upper hand over its rival Ferrari ahead of the Qualifications, even though Vettel and Räikkönen were often caught in traffic during this second practice session.

Top of VET’s Christmas list?

A horn for his Ferrari 📯 🔊 ✊ ☝️#BelgianGP 🇧🇪 #FP2 pic.twitter.com/xFWzV3OCrA

— Formula 1 (@F1) 26 août /f1/actualite/21249-penalites-pour-fernando-alonso-et-marcus-ericsson-a-spa.html

Moreover, it will still be necessary to wait to see if the Austrian team can indeed compete with Mercedes, which had mainly focused on long stints with Hamilton and Rosberg.

Nico Hülkenberg finishes as a solid third for Force India with Sebastian Vettel and Sergio Perez posting very similar lap times. Rosberg finished well in sixth place, being the first driver on soft tires.

Three pleasant surprises are to be noted in this ranking: both Haas are back in business and in the top 10, and above all, Pascal Wehrlein takes a very impressive eleventh place! An incredible session from the Manor driver, comfortable in both time trial training and even in long stint simulations. This certainly earned a few congratulations from the parent company…

💪🏁🇧🇪👏 #F1 #BelgianGP #Spa #FP2 @PWehrlein https://t.co/qG4qqBHxnS

— MERCEDES AMG F1 (@MercedesAMGF1) 26 août /f1/actualite/21249-penalites-pour-fernando-alonso-et-marcus-ericsson-a-spa.html

Two places behind, Hamilton only finished in thirteenth position, he who, it must be recalled once again, only focused on long stints.

Finally, let’s once again commend Esteban Ocon’s seriousness, as he made not a single mistake this afternoon, despite a gap that is quite unfavorable to him compared to his German teammate. In truth, the match between the two young Mercedes talents is just beginning, with the first meeting set for tomorrow at around 2 PM, for the start of the qualifying session at Spa-Francorchamps!

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PROVISIONAL CLASSIFICATION: END OF FP2

Force Indias and Red Bulls = 💪

And take a bow, @PWehrlein 👏#BelgianGP 🇧🇪 pic.twitter.com/OStq3h4pUJ

— Formula 1 (@F1) 26 août /f1/actualite/21249-penalites-pour-fernando-alonso-et-marcus-ericsson-a-spa.html

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