Verstappen fastest, struggling Ferrari among backmarkers in Belgian FP2

Max Verstappen narrowly beat Daniel Ricciardo in second practice for Formula 1’s Belgian Grand Prix as Ferrari’s dire 2020 campaign took another lacklustre turn.

Verstappen posted a time of a 1:43.744 in cool and overcast conditions at Spa-Francorchamps on Friday afternoon to lead the pack.

But his advantage was a slender 0.048s over former team-mate Daniel Ricciardo, who showed an unexpected turn of speed in the Renault R.S.20.

Both Verstappen and Ricciardo were quick in the first and third full-throttle sectors but relinquished time to third-placed Lewis Hamilton through the downforce-heavy middle sector.

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Hamilton wound up just 0.096s down on Verstappen at the end of the session.

Ferrari in a world of pain

Sebastian Vettel swept past Hamilton to win the 2018 Belgian Grand Prix while last year Charles Leclerc claimed pole position by over seven-tenths of a second en route to his maiden victory.

But Ferrari has lost performance year-on-year, following a private settlement with the FIA, and its deficit was starkly demonstrated during second practice, as it wound up as the third-slowest team.

Leclerc finished in 15th position, 1.6s behind Hamilton, and was over half a second adrift of Alfa Romeo duo Antonio Giovinazzi and Kimi Raikkonen, whose cars are equipped with Ferrari power units and have typically been among the backmarker group.

Vettel classified only 17th as his prospects were compromised further by a scruffy push lap, running wide at Malmedy and Stavelot.

Williams – which is struggling with its draggy FW43 – nonetheless managed to split the Ferrari drivers courtesy of George Russell, while rookie Nicholas Latifi finished a tenth behind Vettel.

Russell, who qualified five seconds slower than Leclerc in 2019, was just 0.023s behind the Ferrari driver.

Haas finished at the back – Romain Grosjean in front of Kevin Magnussen – after both drivers only joined the action with 30 minutes remaining, following respective engine changes in the wake of problems early in FP1.

Not all joy for Renault

Renault’s cars showed encouraging performance after a disappointing display two weeks ago in Spain, but Ricciardo’s runner-up spot to Verstappen came in a session that he failed to complete.

Ricciardo halted his R.S.20 along the Kemmel Straight with 25 minutes remaining in the session.

Renault swiftly revealed that a loss of hydraulic pressure was to blame for the stoppage and that Ricciardo brought the car to a halt as a precaution.

Another brief stoppage followed Ricciardo’s incident due to an advertising hoarding falling off a trackside barrier, though the offending part was swiftly removed.

Albon leads close train

Spa-Francorchamps is Formula 1’s longest circuit yet third through eighth was separated by less than a tenth of a second.

Red Bull’s Alexander Albon finished fourth, 0.390s behind pace-setting team-mate Verstappen, and just 0.03s clear of Racing Point’s Sergio Perez.

Valtteri Bottas, celebrating his 31st birthday, was a subdued sixth, ahead of McLaren’s Lando Norris and Renault’s Esteban Ocon.

A gap of almost three-tenths of a second followed to ninth-placed Carlos Sainz Jr., while AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly rounded out the top 10, ahead of Lance Stroll and Daniil Kvyat.

Saturday’s final practice session is scheduled for 12:00 local time.