Norris and McLaren retake the lead from Verstappen in FP2 at Spa

Without any rain, Norris was the quickest at Spa in FP2. The Briton finished more than two tenths ahead of his rival, Verstappen, after the Dutchman topped FP1 earlier on Friday. The two Ferrari drivers finished in P4 and P5 respectively, in the order of Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz. The quicker Mercedes driver George Russell finished in P6, and Lewis Hamilton set the 10th fastest time. As Alpine are going through another change in leadership, Esteban Ocon finished in P7.

What happened during FP2?

Drivers were eager to get out on track quickly, as rain could arrive at any moment at the Spa-Francorchamps track. That, however, never happened this time. To begin with, Norris and Leclerc were given the soft tyres, while everybody else at the front ran their first stints on the mediums.

20 minutes into the session, it was Verstappen who led on mediums, two tenths ahead of his rival Norris and the two Mercedes cars. Sainz then quickly responded on the softs and moved up to P1. As more drivers brought out the softs, it was Piastri who found himself at the top, just 0.002 seconds ahead of Verstappen. The Australian’s lap was not perfect, he ran wide in Turn 7, and asked his team to check his floor.

Norris then improved the best lap time of the session further. The Briton found himself at that point two tenths ahead of the Dutchman. Norris’ lap around the halfway point of FP2 proved to be the quickest this afternoon, as most teams focused on their long runs afterwards.