F1 teams face downforce dilemma: What we learned on Friday at the Belgian GP

Teams face critical choices

The teams and drivers are bracing themselves for a proper challenge at Spa-Francorchamps with cold temperatures and sporadical showers forecast all weekend.

The unpredictable weather has created an additional headache for the teams when it comes to selecting the right set-up, with drivers facing a conundrum over whether to favour low or high downforce.

A low downforce approach helps maximise straightline speed, something which is particularly important along Spa’s long straights found in sectors one and three.

Conversely, more downforce sacrifices top speed on the straights but gives the drivers greater grip and cornering performance in the length middle sector which comprises a number of demanding corners.

Mercedes split its set-up between its two cars on Friday, with Lewis Hamilton running a high-downforce approach in practice one and teammate Valtteri Bottas using a slimmer rear-wing.

For second practice, Hamilton shod his chunky rear wing for a low downforce configuration in line with Bottas.

With rain likely to affect proceedings in qualifying and the race, teams need to make a critical choice over whether to prioritise straightline speed, or gamble on a wet-weather set-up.

Hamilton said it would be a tough choice and urged Mercedes to take a “very careful and cautious” approach when deciding its set-up direction.

Red Bull v Mercedes too close to call

Just 0.072s separated pacesetter Max Verstappen and third-placed man Lewis Hamilton by the end of second practice, a result that sets up the prospect of a tantalising battle for pole position on Saturday.

While Verstappen ended the day with the fastest time of a 1m44.472s on soft tyres, the Mercedes pair’s efforts were set on mediums after both Bottas and Hamilton failed to improve when they switched onto Pirelli’s fastest compound.

Mercedes is believed to have used a lower-power engine mode for Hamilton and Bottas' soft tyre runs, which would suggest the Silver Arrows has plenty of pace in hand. However, neither driver was entirely comfortable with the car’s balance and seemed happier on mediums.

Bottas had edged out Verstappen on softs in the morning session but the Finn’s best lap time was slower than what Verstappen achieved in FP2 before crashing out.

After finishing the day as the fastest Mercedes driver, Bottas heads into the rest of the weekend in a confident mood.

“It feels good,” he said. “It’s going to be - as we saw today - close with the Red Bull, no doubt. So we just need to find marginal gains tonight.”

A combination of a close order at the front and unknowns over the weather adds to the anticipation of what could prove to be an epic qualifying session.

Race pace uncertainty after crashes

FP2 was punctuated by a pair of late incidents for Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and Verstappen.

Leclerc suffered a snap of oversteer on the exit of Les Combes and was sent into the barriers, causing the red flag to be deployed.

Less than 10 minutes later the session was halted again, only this time for good when Verstappen spun off into the barriers at Malmedy after losing control of his Red Bull.

Both crashes occurred as the field switched focus onto their long-run programmes and severely disrupted the plans.

With teams unable to conduct much useful running, expect to see plenty of action in the final hour of practice on Saturday morning as drivers play catch up to gather the data they missed out on.

While everyone was equally affected by the delays, it creates an extra sense of uncertainty going into the rest of the weekend.

Encouraging day for AlphaTauri, Alpine

It was a very positive Friday for AlphaTauri, with Pierre Gasly running a strong third in FP1.

The Frenchman was again inside the top five in the afternoon as he posted a lap time just 0.493s off the pace of Verstappen’s benchmark.

F1’s most recent race winners Alpine also enjoyed a strong day, with both Fernando Alonso and Hungarian GP victor Esteban Ocon occupying top 10 spots in each session.

Alonso ended FP2 fourth-fastest after logging an impressive lap on softs that was 0.481s shy of the outright quickest time.

The performance of both teams caught the eye of their nearest rivals Ferrari, McLaren and Aston Martin and has teased another almighty scrap for supremacy in F1’s ultra-competitive midfield.