Janice R. Andrews
At the Belgian Grand Prix, McLaren demonstrated their pace with a one-two finish in an exciting second practice session. Lando Norris took the lead and beat teammate Oscar Piastri by 0.215 seconds, with Max Verstappen, the current world champion, coming in third. However, a modification in an engine component will result in Verstappen being penalized ten places on the starting line for Sunday’s race.
McLaren’s strong performance was on display at the Spa-Francorchamps track, where Norris and Piastri, both on the soft C4 tire, dominated the session. Verstappen, who was also running on softs, was not far behind, but his weekend plan was ruined when it was revealed that he had used more internal combustion engines (ICEs) than was permitted.
Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz of Ferrari finished fourth and fifth, respectively, but they were more over half a second behind Norris. Lewis Hamilton, the driver of Mercedes, struggled with balance and finished tenth during the session, while George Russell finished sixth. Even with further modifications to their vehicle for this weekend, the Silver Arrows team had trouble getting the best out of it.
Following a difficult first practice due to a possible water leak, Esteban Ocon recovered to take seventh place for Alpine. The top 10 was completed by Sergio Perez in the second Red Bull and Kevin Magnussen of Haas, with Perez coming in ninth.
Thinking back on his best finish in FP2, Norris was unsure about his car’s setup. The 24-year-old British driver stated, “I’ve just not felt very comfortable with the car today. Hopefully I’ll just wake up tomorrow and feel a bit more comfortable with it.” Even though he was first on the timesheets, Norris stressed that he still needed to improve his car’s rhythm and that he needed to make some changes before the vital qualifying session.
The weather forecast for Saturday’s qualifying session calls for rain, which might disrupt the dry conditions that existed on Friday and bring further unpredictability to the 7km course. Beginning at 15:00 BST, drivers will have to compete not only with one another but also with the possibility of rainy conditions during qualifying.
With his grid penalty, Verstappen will have a tough task ahead of him as he looks to win for the first time since the Spanish Grand Prix in June. The Dutchman showed his tenacity last year when he came back from a five-place drop due to gearbox modifications to win from sixth on the grid. He will have to negotiate a more competitive field this season, made more difficult by McLaren’s comeback.
Yuki Tsunoda will start at the rear of the field as a result of a grid penalty for changing various engine components, according to another development. The fifth ICE and turbocharger added to the Japanese driver’s vehicle has resulted in an effective 60-place grid reduction.
Amidst the on-track activities, Alpine said that Bruno Famin will relinquish his position as team principal at the end of August. A new team principle has not yet been revealed to replace Famin, who assumed the position at the beginning of the season after Otmar Szafnauer’s resignation.
All eyes will be on McLaren’s encouraging performance, Verstappen’s battle through the field, and the tactical moves made by teams to avoid penalties and erratic weather throughout the Belgian Grand Prix weekend.
