Lewis Hamilton topped the second free practice session at Spa-Francorchamps this afternoon.
In a reversal from this morning’s run, the Briton leads Mercedes teammate Nico Rosberg, posting a fastest time six-tenths quicker than his German counterpart.
It was not all plain sailing for Hamilton. In the final thirty minutes of the session, the 2008 World Champion complained “something weird happened in the gearbox into the last corner”; however he would continue with no issues.
Hamilton’s quickest – 1:49.189s – ensured that Rosberg was comfortably outpaced over single-lap pace and it appeared at this stage as if Hamilton may also have the nod over the longer stint on the Prime Pirelli tyres.
Fernando Alonso took 3rd in his Ferrari, proving four-tenths faster than Williams’ Felipe Massa. The Brazilian’s teammate took 6th, with the Williams cars sandwiching McLaren’s Jenson Button.
The session was red flagged twice. Firstly Pastor Maldonado managed a grand total of one-and-a-half laps when the Venezuelan crashed exiting The Corner With No Name. Esteban Gutierrez also caused a stoppage when he spun and stalled at Blanchimont.
Engine problems left over from the morning practice scuppered Sebastian Vettel’s session. The reigning world champion did not complete any laps in the second practice.
2014 Belgian Grand Prix (Rd 12, Free Practice 2) Pos Driver Team Time / Gap 1. Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:49.189 2. Nico Rosberg Mercedes +0.604 3. Fernando Alonso Ferrari +0.741 4. Felipe Massa Williams-Mercedes +1.138 5. Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes +1.470 6. Valtteri Bottas Williams-Mercedes +1.488 7. Daniil Kvyat Toro Rosso-Renault +1.536 8. Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull-Renault +1.788 9. Kevin Magnussen McLaren-Mercedes +1.885 10. Nico Hulkenberg Force India-Mercedes +1.888 11. Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso-Renault +2.194 12. Adrian Sutil Sauber-Ferrari +2.261 13. Sergio Perez Force India-Mercedes +2.384 14. Romain Grosjean Lotus-Renault +3.007 15. Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari +3.045 16. Jules Bianchi Marussia-Ferrari +3.587 17. Esteban Gutierrez Sauber-Ferrari +4.766 18. Max Chilton Marussia-Ferrari +4.851 19. Marcus Ericsson Caterham-Renault +4.861 20. André Lotterer Caterham-Renault +4.904 21. Pastor Maldonado Lotus-Renault (no time) 22. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault (no time)
