Lando Norris led McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri in a intently fought one-two FP2 end in Belgium forward of Max Verstappen.
Norris used a second set of soppy tires to rocket to the highest spot after most different drivers had already accomplished their single-lap qualifying simulation runs, going purple within the closing two sectors on the way in which to a headline time of 1m42.260s. That edged teammate Piastri by 0.215s, the Australian having topped the timesheet together with his first set of softs regardless of dipping into the gravel exiting Malmedy on the run all the way down to Bruxelles.
The Australian radioed his workforce warning of attainable flooring harm, but it surely wouldn’t be the final time he would flirt with the stones, operating vast on his future at Audio system nook.
Max Verstappen was an in depth match for Piastri, lapping simply 0.002s slower than the McLaren driver within the struggle for what had been prime spot after the primary qualifying simulation laps. There was little to select between him and Piastri in any of the three sectors, however the McLaren was the quicker of the 2 within the second and third splits, as Norris would go on to reveal.
Ferrari put in a comparatively robust exhibiting, with Charles Leclerc fourth and 0.577s off the tempo. Carlos Sainz adopted an additional 0.261s again.
George Russell was Mercedes’s lead consultant in sixth however was 1.03s off the tempo.
Esteban Ocon made up for time misplaced in FP1 to an influence unit water leak by getting out on observe quickly firstly of FP2, and although the Frenchman’s lap rely was modest within the circumstances, he stunned with a midfield-topping seventh, 1.1s off the tempo. Kevin Magnussen adopted him intently in eighth, 0.084s additional again.
Sergio Perez’s struggles from FP1 continued, with the under-pressure Mexican properly off the tempo of teammate Verstappen on his option to ninth within the order. Perez was 1.244s off the last word tempo and 1.027s slower than Verstappen. Down in all three splits, he was notably poor within the downforce-dependent second cut up, dropping greater than 0.6s to Verstappen in that sector alone.
Lewis Hamilton accomplished the highest 10, 1.259s off the tempo after complaining of serious degradation on his future. He completed forward of Aston Martin teammates Lance Stroll and Fernando Alonso and Stake Sauber driver Valtteri Bottas.
Daniel Ricciardo’s session ended early after reporting that his automobile felt “wobbly” throughout his race simulation. The workforce replied that it may see an issue within the knowledge and recalled him to his storage, the place he ended the hour.
Pierre Gasly was fifteenth forward of Nico Hulkenberg, Alex Albon, Logan Sargeant and Zhou Guanyu all the way down to nineteenth.
Yuki Tsunoda was slowest of all, lapping 2.088s off the tempo, however the Japanese driver was targeted largely on race tempo given he will likely be beginning behind the grid anyway owing to a penalty for an influence unit change.
Curiously, Tsunoda was the quickest of any driver within the flat-out first sector and extremely aggressive within the second, hinting at a setup that may facilitate overtaking on Sunday. Ricciardo, who carries no penalty, was equally fast in the identical two splits.
