Hamilton emerges ahead as Mercedes fit ultra softs in FP2

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F1 Grand Prix, GP Belgium, Circuit de Spa-Francorchampsbe

Lewis Hamilton topped the second free practice session of the day at Spa Francorchamps, in preparation for the Belgian Grand Prix. The Englishman edged out Kimi Räikkonen of Ferrari who proved faster than his countryman Valtteri Bottas in the other Mercedes.

The session continued to see the top three teams set the fastest 6 times. Daniel Ricciardo was the only one of them not to be within half a second of the pace setter. Max Verstappen however kept Red Bull very much in the mix in 4th, narrowly topping Sebastian Vettel.

Behind them, Nico Hulkenberg ended up fastest of the rest, followed by Ocon and Sainz. Jolyon Palmer completed the top 10, little more than 2 tenths down on his German team mate.

When the rain eventually did arrive at Spa-Francorchamps - around 20 minutes ahead of the end of the session, it was no joke, making the track extremely wet in minute or two. The cars out on track at the time rapidly pitted, with Magnussen staying out longest, before eventually deciding to do the same as well.

A few minutes later, Daniel Ricciardo and Fernando Alonso both attempted to have a go on intermediates in the wet conditions, but soon found the green marked tyres inappropriate for the conditions. As they both returned to the pits, the session effectively came to an end, as nobody else risked any offs this late in the day.

Results

Pos.No.DriverCarTimeGapLaps
144Lewis HamiltonMercedes1:44.753-17
27Kimi RäikkönenFerrari1:45.015+0.262s21
377Valtteri BottasMercedes1:45.180+0.427s17
433Max VerstappenRed Bull Racing Tag Heuer1:45.225+0.472s16
55Sebastian VettelFerrari1:45.235+0.482s20
63Daniel RicciardoRed Bull Racing Tag Heuer1:46.072+1.319s15
727Nico HulkenbergRenault1:46.441+1.688s24
831Esteban OconForce India Mercedes1:46.473+1.720s19
955Carlos SainzToro Rosso1:46.561+1.808s19
1030Jolyon PalmerRenault1:46.670+1.917s23
1114Fernando AlonsoMcLaren Honda1:46.743+1.990s20
1211Sergio PerezForce India Mercedes1:46.984+2.231s18
138Romain GrosjeanHaas Ferrari1:47.285+2.532s15
142Stoffel VandoorneMcLaren Honda1:47.303+2.550s17
1526Daniil KvyatToro Rosso1:47.450+2.697s12
1620Kevin MagnussenHaas Ferrari1:47.556+2.803s15
1718Lance StrollWilliams Mercedes1:47.861+3.108s13
189Marcus EricssonSauber Ferrari1:49.214+4.461s12
1994Pascal WehrleinSauber Ferrari1:49.725+4.972s18