Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri demonstrated McLaren’s strong pace by achieving a one-two finish in the second practice session at the 2024 Belgian Grand Prix. Max Verstappen, who will incur a 10-place grid penalty for Sunday’s race, placed third.
Following a team dispute in Hungary, Norris outpaced Piastri by 0.215 seconds, while reigning World Champion Verstappen was third on the soft C4 tyre.
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Verstappen has exceeded his season’s power unit allocation by taking his fifth internal combustion engine (ICE) at Spa-Francorchamps, resulting in the grid drop.
Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz secured fourth and fifth places, respectively, with Leclerc more than half a second behind Norris and Sainz trailing by 0.838 seconds.
George Russell finished sixth, while his Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton was 10th. Despite Mercedes bringing upgrades for this race, both drivers reported balance issues during the opening session.
Alpine’s Esteban Ocon, who completed only one lap in the first practice due to a suspected water leak, finished seventh. Kevin Magnussen of Haas and Sergio Perez of Red Bull were eighth and ninth, respectively.
Norris, currently 76 points behind championship leader Verstappen after finishing second to Piastri in Hungary, commented on his need to find “rhythm” with the car.
“I haven’t felt very comfortable with the car today, so hopefully tomorrow will be better,” said the 24-year-old Briton. “We tried to make some improvements, and while our times look good, I didn’t feel fully confident out there.”
Norris acknowledged McLaren’s good preparation and car setup but added, “I’m not yet at the point where I feel I can go out and nail it.”
Friday’s sessions took place in dry conditions, but rain is expected for Saturday’s qualifying session at 4:00 pm local time.
Verstappen faces a challenge to secure his first win since the 2024 Spanish Grand Prix in June, given McLaren’s improvements this season. Last year, he won comfortably from sixth on the grid after a five-place penalty for using too many gearbox parts.
Yuki Tsunoda will start at the back of the field due to a grid penalty. RB replaced multiple engine components on Tsunoda’s car, resulting in a cumulative 60-place grid drop.
During the break between practice sessions, Alpine announced that Bruno Famin would step down as team principal by the end of August. Famin, who assumed the role at the start of the season following Otmar Szafnauer’s departure during last year’s 2023 Belgian Grand Prix, will be replaced by a new team principal to be announced later.
Belgian GP FP2 Results
2024 Belgian Grand Prix FP2, 26 July 2024
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