Antonelli leads Norris and Verstappen in second Belgian GP practice

Kimi Antonelli set the pace in FP2 at the Belgian Grand Prix as four teams occupied the top four positions and George Russell struggled.

Mercedes had not shown its potential in the opening session but there was a hint about the power unit’s performance around Spa-Francorchamps on Friday afternoon, with Antonelli going more than a second quicker than Max Verstappen’s FP1 time. Antonelli was quick throughout, but found close opposition on the calendar’s longest circuit as Lando Norris ended up just 0.190s adrift.

Norris was particularly quick in the middle sector, and delivered the headline of what proved to be a more encouraging outing for McLaren

The session was red-flagged twice, with the opening interruption coming in the first 15 minutes to clear gravel on track at the exit of Stavelot – Turn 14 – and that ensured Oscar Piastri did not lose out on too much running after his hydraulic issue in FP1. McLaren was unable to repair the car quickly enough for the start of the session, but Piastri joined the action with three minutes of the red flag ending.

Early running had seen Antonelli leading the way from the two Red Bull drivers, with all three covered by just 0.031s, while Russell was a long way off on the mediums initially. When it came to the soft tire runs, Russell was nearly 1.3 seconds adrift of Antonelli and spoke of cold rears to start the lap but admitted it did not account for such a big gap.

Closest to the top two was FP1 pace-setter Verstappen, although he was nearly half a second adrift of Antonelli. Lewis Hamilton made it four different constructors in the top four positions as the Ferrari driver pipped Isack Hadjar by just 0.023s, with Piastri in sixth the only other driver within a second of the fastest time.

Franco Colapinto was seventh ahead of Russell for Alpine, but the second red flag was far more dramatic as Colapinto’s teammate Pierre Gasly crashed out of the Fagnes Chicane. Gasly was running towards the exit of the corner during his long run and when he tried to react to a slide, the car ran slightly wide into the gravel.

With the barrier protruding close to the run-off area, Gasly’s right rear clipped the wall and that pivoted the Alpine into a spin, with the rear making a far more heavy second impact that caused significant damage and left debris all over the track.

The session only resumed with two minutes remaining, with Arvid Lindblad and Liam Lawson rounding out the top 10 as Racing Bulls continued its strong form. Lindblad is running an upgraded chassis this weekend – one that team principal Alan Permane revealed had been earned by being the faster of the two drivers in qualifying at Silverstone – with Lawson set to receive the second chassis once it is ready in Hungary.

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