It was business resumed in Belgium on Friday afternoon, as Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg lead the way ahead of Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso. Similar to the morning session, it was the same top three, only Hamilton had the advantage in the afternoon.
Hamilton was on top, with a time of 1.49:189. The fastest lap of the weekend.
Despite running a wing specifically designed for the Spa-Francorchamps circuit, Alonso’s team-mate Kimi Raikkonen once again had a troubled Friday. Finishing the morning session in 5th, overheating ERS problems in the afternoon and complaining of the rear of his car being “so poor,” the Finn was only 16th in the afternoon.
Felipe Massa had an improved session for Williams, in 4th behind former team-mate Alonso. His team-mate, Valtteri Bottas was in sixth just behind McLaren’s Jenson Button. Button has only picked up one pole position in his time with McLaren, and it came at Spa in 2012.
Daniil Kvyat put in a strong session for Toro Rosso to be ahead of Daniel Ricciardo in the Red Bull, with both being 7th and 8th respectively. The second McLaren of Kevin Magnussen was in 9th and Nico Hulkenberg rounding out the top ten.
No sooner than had the session began than it was stopped. The first red flag of the weekend was brought out by the Lotus of Pastor Maldonado after having an odd crash on the run down to Pouhon. There has been no confirmation of what caused the crash, but it is not believed to be driver error.
Just before the half hour mark, the second stoppage of the day happened. The Sauber of Esteban Gutierrez had a spin through Blanchimont, normally a flat out kink. After numerous theories as to what caused the spin, Sauber believe the spin was caused by an ERS problem. Gutierrez’s session was ended from the spin.
It was a troubled day for Red Bull. Coming into this weekend, they stated it was damage limitation mode. A burnt exhaust for Sebastian Vettel in the morning session meant a change of engine for the quadruple world champion. Unable to take part in practice two, Vettel has had an engine change from a brand new, to old unit.
On the long fuel runs, it was no surprise to see Mercedes as the fastest with Williams popping up ahead into second, just ahead of the Ferrari of Fernando Alonso. But was it traditional lower fuel running from Ferrari compared to the competition? If history is to repeat itself, that may well be the case.
Andre Lotterer making his Formula 1 debut this weekend, was the slowest of the drivers to set a lap-time only 0.043 off his team-mate, Marcus Ericsson.
Hamilton was a mammoth six tenths ahead of team-mate Rosberg, perhaps showing his hand too early. For the past six Practice Two sessions, it was Mercedes who were first and second, with Hamilton leading the way. Mercedes seem in control in Belgium’s Ardenne forest, but can they stay on top throughout the rest of the weekend? Only time can tell.
| # | Driver | Team | Time | Gap | Laps | |
| 1 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 1:49.189 | 26 | ||
| 2 | Nico Rosberg | Mercedes | 1:49.793 | 0.604 | 28 | |
| 3 | Fernando Alonso | Ferrari | 1:49.930 | 0.741 | 19 | |
| 4 | Felipe Massa | Williams | 1:50.327 | 1.138 | 24 | |
| 5 | Jenson Button | McLaren | 1:50.659 | 1.470 | 31 | |
| 6 | Valtteri Bottas | Williams | 1:50.677 | 1.488 | 26 | |
| 7 | Daniil Kvyat | Toro Rosso | 1:50.725 | 1.536 | 25 | |
| 8 | Daniel Ricciardo | Red Bull | 1:50.977 | 1.788 | 16 | |
| 9 | Kevin Magnussen | McLaren | 1:51.074 | 1.885 | 31 | |
| 10 | Nico Hulkenberg | Force India | 1:51.077 | 1.888 | 26 | |
| 11 | Jean-Eric Vergne | Toro Rosso | 1:51.383 | 2.194 | 26 | |
| 12 | Adrian Sutil | Sauber | 1:51.450 | 2.261 | 29 | |
| 13 | Sergio Perez | Force India | 1:51.573 | 2.384 | 28 | |
| 14 | Romain Grosjean | Lotus | 1:52.196 | 3.007 | 25 | |
| 15 | Kimi Raikkonen | Ferrari | 1:52.234 | 3.045 | 18 | |
| 16 | Jules Bianchi | Marussia | 1:52.776 | 3.587 | 23 | |
| 17 | Esteban Gutierrez | Sauber | 1:53.955 | 4.766 | 7 | |
| 18 | Max Chilton | Marussia | 1:54.040 | 4.851 | 18 | |
| 19 | Marcus Ericsson | Caterham | 1:54.050 | 4.861 | 30 | |
| 20 | Andre Lotterer | Caterham | 1:54.093 | 4.904 | 24 | |
| Sebastian Vettel | Red Bull | |||||
| Pastor Maldonado | Lotus | 2 |
