Verstappen’s turn

Verstappen's turn

While Carlos Sainz Jr won the first free practice session of the Belgian Grand Prix, Max Verstappen won the second, also marked by rain at the end. The world champion was ahead of Charles Leclerc and Lando Norris.

He will start from the back of the grid on Sunday at Spa-Francorchamps, but that did not prevent Max Verstappen from giving his all during the second free practice session of the Belgian Grand Prix this Friday afternoon. The world champion completed 20 laps at the wheel of his Red Bull, on a track that became wet at the end of the session due to the fine rain that fell on the Belgian circuit. And his best lap came almost halfway through the session: 1’45″507, on soft tyres, almost a second better than Carlos Sainz Jr during the first morning session. Verstappen was quite well ahead of Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) by 862 thousandths and Lando Norris by 1″1082. Only one driver managed to ride faster than him during this session, Carlos Sainz Jr, who moved to the top of the time sheet at the start, before being overtaken by the Dutchman. The Spaniard finally set the fifth time, behind Lance Stroll. Lewis Hamilton, who started these tests on hard tires and struggled, finally finished sixth on soft tyres. The French however did not shine: Pierre Gasly finished 14th and Esteban Ocon 16th, both more than two seconds behind Mac Verstappen.

A few trail exits

The rain that arrived at the end of the session did not cause any accidents, but a few minor off-track excursions for Mick Schumacher, Kevin Magnussen and Lando Norris. The drivers will meet on Saturday at 1:00 p.m. for the third free practice session, before qualifying at 4:00 p.m. Qualifications which will in particular determine the starting order of the drivers who will be at the back of the grid after having received a penalty for having changed the engine elements of their single-seater, namely Max Verstappen, Charles Leclerc, Lando Norris, Esteban Ocon, Valtteri Bottas and Mick Schumacher. It’s up to the other drivers to know how to seize their chance to appear high on the starting grid…

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