Verstappen tops F1 Belgian GP second practice then crashes
Verstappen set a 1m44.472s on soft tyres to edge out morning pacesetter Valtteri Bottas by just 0.041s, while Lewis Hamilton put his Mercedes third, just 0.072s off the Dutchman’s FP2 benchmark.
Unlike Verstappen, however, both Mercedes drivers set their fastest times on the medium tyre during their earlier runs, suggesting there is more pace to come from the reigning world champions.
Second practice was interrupted by a pair of late crashes for Charles Leclerc and Verstappen.
Leclerc caused the first red flag of FP2 when he hit the wall after losing his Ferrari coming out of Les Combes before Verstappen also found the barriers when he spun off at Malmedy.
With less than two minutes left on the clock, the session was halted for the second and final time, bringing FP2 to a premature end.
The incidents disrupted all of the team’s long runs as the drivers switched focus from one-lap pace to preparations for Sunday’s grand prix.
Fernando Alonso, who ran a visor-cam on his helmet, put his Alpine fourth with a strong lap, ahead of AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly and Aston Martin driver Lance Stroll.
Esteban Ocon avoided the barriers despite having a big spin at Fagnes as he finished seventh, ahead of Sebastian Vettel’s Aston Martin and McLaren’s Lando Norris.
Almost a second off the pace of his teammate, Sergio Perez rounded out the top 10 on an afternoon it was announced he had secured his Red Bull F1 seat for 2022.
Results from second practice for the 2021 F1 Belgian Grand Prix.
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