World championship leader Kimi Antonelli produced a dominant display to top second practice at the Belgian Grand Prix.
The Mercedes driver had been uncharacteristically off the pace in first practice earlier on Friday, but rediscovered the speed he has consistently shown throughout the season to finish almost two tenths clear of McLaren’s Lando Norris.
Having topped first practice for Red Bull, Max Verstappen was almost half a second down on Antonelli in third amid some furious complaints on team radio over his car’s gear shifts.
Antonelli will be further buoyed by the distance he was able to put between himself and his nearest title rivals.
The 19-year-old’s Mercedes team-mate George Russell, who is 25 points back in the standings in second, was a massive 1.285s off the pace in eighth.
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Max Verstappen brings out the red flag during the second practice session at the Belgian GP.
Lewis Hamilton, who is seven points further back from Russell, was fourth for Ferrari but trailed Antonelli by almost three quarters of a second as he just edged out Verstappen’s Red Bull team-mate Isack Hadjar.
While the outcome offered little encouragement for his title hopes, Hamilton was at least able to outpace his team-mate Charles Leclerc, who could only manage 11th following his British Grand Prix victory.
Oscar Piastri was almost a second off the pace in sixth for McLaren, but did have to contend with a hydraulic issue that kept him off track for the first 20 minutes of the session.
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Pierre Gasly crashes out of the second practice session of the Belgian GP.
Franco Colapinto impressively outpaced Russell to take seventh for Alpine, while Racing Bulls duo Arvid Lindblad and Liam Lawson continued their consistent form to complete the top 10.
A big crash for the other Alpine driver Pierre Gasly saw the final quarter of the session all but lost to a red-flag stoppage, with drivers only able to return to the track with two minutes remaining to perform practice starts.
That was the second red flag of the session after there had earlier been a short delay to clear gravel from the track after it had been whipped onto the circuit by a car running wide.
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Sky Sports F1’s Bernie Collins runs through the new upgrades ahead of the Belgian GP.
While Norris and Hadjar are already condemned to 10-place grid penalties for exceeding their engine part allowances, both Ferrari drivers avoided joining them as the team escaped with just fines after breaching rules by failing to return tyres to supplier Pirelli after first practice.
Antonelli: We made big changes
Antonelli confirmed after the session that Mercedes had made “big changes” between Friday’s sessions, which enabled him to find more pace.
“We made big changes with the car, and it was a lot better, so that’s a good direction,” Antonelli said.
“Of course, there’s still a lot of work to do, as a team and as well with my driving, but it was a much better session and I’m now looking forward to tomorrow.”
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Despite going quickest in P2, Kimi Antonelli still says Mercedes have work to do ahead of qualifying.
The Italian arrived in Belgium in strong form despite having seen his title lead reduced by 41 points over the last three rounds.
He retired from second place in the closing stages in Barcelona because of an engine failure, and was then closing in on victory at Silverstone two weeks ago when a wheel-guard failure dropped him out of the points.
Despite his advantage closing, it could be argued that Antonelli appears more dominant over his team-mate Russell than at any stage of the historic five-race winning streak earlier this season that established a big title-race lead.
Antonelli added: “Silverstone was a great weekend but we came out with no points, which obviously hurt a lot.
“This weekend is a different one, a new challenge, and the goal is to still maximise every session, every time I get in the car, and then maximise the result. But definitely today was a good end, but now a lot of work ahead of tomorrow.”
Sky Sports F1’s Belgian GP schedule
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Look back at some of the most dramatic moments throughout the years at the Belgian Grand Prix
Saturday July 18
9am: F3 Sprint
11.15am: Belgian GP Practice Three (session starts at 11.30am)
1.15pm: F2 Sprint
2.15pm: Belgian GP Qualifying build-up*
3pm: BELGIAN GP QUALIFYING*
Sunday July 19
7.30am: F3 Feature Race
9am: F2 Feature Race
10.45am: Porsche Supercup
12.30pm: Belgian GP build-up: Grand Prix Sunday
2pm: THE BELGIAN GRAND PRIX
4pm: Belgian GP reaction: Chequered Flag
*Also on Sky Sports Main Event
Formula 1’s summer run continues with the Belgian Grand Prix at legendary Spa-Francorchamps this weekend, live on Sky Sports F1. Stream Sky Sports with NOW – no contract, cancel anytime
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