Antonelli encouraged by Mercedes turnaround after topping Belgian Grand Prix FP2

Championship leader Andrea Kimi Antonelli finished Friday at the top of the timesheets after Mercedes transformed its fortunes between the two practice sessions at the Belgian Grand Prix, with the Italian describing the team's overnight direction as a major positive ahead of the rest of the Spa weekend.

Mercedes endured a difficult start to Friday, with both drivers struggling for balance in the opening practice session. Antonelli nevertheless finished sixth, around three tenths quicker than team-mate George Russell, before the Brackley-based squad made a series of setup changes ahead of FP2.

The adjustments paid immediate dividends. Antonelli was quick from the outset in the second session, showing strong pace on both the medium and soft compounds before producing a session-best lap of 1m45.944s.

His benchmark proved enough to beat McLaren's Lando Norris and Red Bull's Max Verstappen, while also finishing almost three-quarters of a second clear of Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton.

Despite ending the day fastest, Antonelli stressed that Mercedes still has work to do before qualifying.

"After a tricky FP1, we made several changes to the car that improved things," Antonelli said. "That gives us a positive direction to follow as we head into the rest of the weekend."

The Bologna-born driver believes both the car and his own driving can still be refined, warning that the closely matched field leaves little margin for error.

"There is still lots of work for us to do, both in terms of set-up and also with my driving. Whilst we ended the day quickest, we know just how competitive the field is looking on both the single lap and the long run."

"Overall, though, we're happy that we enjoyed a much better second hour of practice and we're looking forward to the weekend."

Antonelli arrived at Spa looking to bounce back from a disappointing race at Silverstone, where he failed to capitalise on Mercedes' underlying pace. The Italian said that setback has already been put firmly behind him.

"Our goal as always is to maximise our points scoring and fight for the win," he said. "Whilst Silverstone was disappointing for me, it's already behind us and I feel in a good place."

He also believes Friday's performance has given Mercedes reason to be optimistic, even if Spa-Francorchamps presents a very different technical challenge from Silverstone.

"Our pace was strong there and whilst Spa presents a different challenge, after today, we can be confident of getting ourselves in the fight at the front."