Belgian Grand Prix – Free Practice 2: Verstappen ahead of Leclerc and Norris
Max Verstappen achieved an impressive lap time during the second free practice session, dealing a blow to Charles Leclerc, who did not hesitate to react over the radio.
The Spa track was once again prone to puddles of water. The F3 cars, which did their qualifying session before Free Practice 2, experienced it.
However, the drivers went out directly with tires for dry conditions. The track remained wetter than expected. Despite the constant threat of bad weather, the drivers kept clocking in fast laps.
George Russell experienced some difficulties compared to his teammate, consistently lapping about a second slower. The reason was that he struggled to get his tires up to temperature. Both Mercedes drivers had a lot of trouble completing clean laps, with excessive wheel spin and wheel lock-ups.
After 25 minutes of the session, the single-seaters switched to soft tires to complete fast laps. Russell was the first to set a fast lap, with a quite disappointing time: 2.3 seconds behind Verstappen, who was more than a second ahead of the Ferraris.
The Aston Martins performed well, especially Lance Stroll who was driving in the same times as Carlos Sainz and Lando Norris (who recorded the best sector 3 time) and just 1.1 seconds behind Max Verstappen.
Sergio Perez was a victim of hydraulic issues on his car and did not have the opportunity to drive much or complete fast laps.
The rain made its appearance ten minutes before the end of the session. Lewis Hamilton had a scary moment in Eau Rouge where he almost lost control of the rear end of his car. Most drivers had the opportunity to go back out at the end of the session to perform start procedures.
The result of Free Practice 2 of the Belgian Grand Prix for Formula 1 in 2022:
| N° | Driver | Team | Times | Gap | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Verstappen | Red Bull Racing | 1:45.507 | 20 | |
| 2 | Leclerc | Scuderia Ferrari | 1:46.369 | +0.862 | 21 |
| 3 | Norris | McLaren F1 Team | 1:46.589 | +1.082 | 17 |
| 4 | Stroll | Cognizant Aston Martin Racing | 1:46.635 | +1.128 | 16 |
| 5 | Sainz | Scuderia Ferrari | 1:46.649 | +1.142 | 20 |
| 6 | Hamilton | Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport | 1:46.893 | +1.386 | 18 |
| 7 | Alonso | Alpine F1 Team | 1:46.975 | +1.468 | 19 |
| 8 | Russell | Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport | 1:47.042 | +1.535 | 22 |
| 9 | Ricciardo | McLaren F1 Team | 1:47.255 | +1.748 | 18 |
| 10 | Perez | Red Bull Racing | 1:47.346 | +1.839 | 15 |
| 11 | Albon | Williams Racing | 1:47.520 | +2.013 | 15 |
| 12 | Zhou | Alfa Romeo Racing ORLEN | 1:47.617 | +2.110 | 21 |
| 13 | Tsunoda | Scuderia AlphaTauri Honda | 1:47.658 | +2.151 | 16 |
| 14 | Gasly | Scuderia AlphaTauri Honda | 1:47.782 | +2.275 | 19 |
| 15 | Vettel | Cognizant Aston Martin Racing | 1:47.867 | +2.360 | 19 |
| 16 | Ocon | Alpine F1 Team | 1:47.944 | +2.437 | 21 |
| 17 | Magnussen | Haas F1 Team | 1:48.208 | +2.701 | 19 |
| 18 | Bottas | Alfa Romeo Racing ORLEN | 1:48.419 | +2.912 | 21 |
| 19 | Latifi | Williams Racing | 1:48.612 | +3.105 | 14 |
| 20 | Schumacher | Haas F1 Team | 1:49.941 | +4.434 | 23 |
