Spa-Francorchamps, FP2: Hamilton moves ahead in second practice

Lewis Hamilton took over at the top of the Belgian Grand Prix timesheets, outpacing Mercedes team-mate Nico Rosberg by more than half a second as the German failed to deliver a clean run on Pirelli’s soft compound tyre.

Hamilton set the pace on the medium Pirelli tyre during the long run phase of the session before and then posted a 1:49.189 when he made the switch to the quicker soft tyre.

Rosberg couldn’t match his team-mate’s pace, with his own run on the option tyre hampered by a couple of small errors. He ended the session 0.604 down on his team-mate.

As in the morning, Fernando Alonso finished closest to the Mercedes pair, the Ferrari driver finishing 0.741s off the pace set by Hamilton.

After finishing 15th in the morning session, Williams’ Felipe Massa improved dramatically in the afternoon, climbing to fourth by the end of the session with a time of 1:50.327. 1.1s down on Hamilton’s time.

Valterri Bottas was sixth in the sister Williams car, the Finn finishing just under two tenths adrift of McLaren’s Jenson Button.

Daniil Kvyat was seventh for Toro Rosso, ahead of Red Bull Racing’s Daniel Ricciardo, who along with Kvyat and Alonso were the only non-Mercedes-powered men in the top 10. Ricciardo ended the session 1.788s off the pace. Kevin Magnussen in the second McLaren was ninth, ahead of Force India’s Nico Hulkenberg.

Ricciardo’s team-mate Sebastian Vettel did not take any part in the session, having been sidelined in FP1 by an exhaust issue which necessitated a change of power unit.

Also failing to set a time in the afternoon session was Pastor Maldonado. The Lotus driver’s session ended on his second lap out when, on the run down to Pouhon, he lost control of his car and hit the barriers. With debris strewn across the track the red flags came out.

The red flags came out again later in the session – this time for Esteban Gutierrez. The Sauber driver completed just seven laps in the afternoon before spinning at Blanchimont and then stopping out on circuit. The Mexican reported that the stop had been caused by a gearbox issue.