Maldonado tops red flagged practice

Pastor Maldonado was on top once again this morning in a very wet free practice session in Spa Francorchamps, setting the fastest lap in a small break between heavy showers to finish ahead of Dani Clos and series returnee Alvaro Parente.

The Venezuelan set a best time of 2:16.498 halfway through the rain affected session: he was the first man on track to be sure of a clear view, and was constantly fastest in a session that was not likely to see too much action, given the conditions.

With all of the drivers determined not to create a drama for their mechanics there was not much in the way of action, although Michael Herck and Johnny Cecotto both stopped on track early in the session.

Just after Maldonado set his fastest lap the heavens opened and everyone tried their best just to get back to the pitlane: there were a number of spins on their return, and unfortunately for Fabio Leimer he was a passenger as his car found the wall. The impact prompted a red flag period, ahead of an early halt to the session.

Behind the top three were Herck, Romain Grosjean, Christian Vietoris, Oliver Turvey and Marcus Ericsson, all of whom will be hoping for better conditions when qualifying starts in just a few hours time.