Spa-Francorchamps, the legendary circuit nestled deep in the Ardennes forest, played host to a captivating second practice session for the Belgian Grand Prix. And it was Lando Norris who stole the show, putting in a scintillating performance to top the timesheets for McLaren.
In a session that saw the weather forecasters left scratching their heads as the predicted rain failed to materialize, the teams seized the opportunity to push their cars to the limit on the dry Spa tarmac. And it was the young Briton Norris who emerged as the star of the show, lapping the circuit in a blistering 1:42.260 – over two-tenths quicker than his teammate Oscar Piastri.
The battle at the front was intense, with championship leader Max Verstappen – who will face a 10-place grid penalty for the race – pushing hard to try and overhaul the McLarens. But despite setting the pace earlier in the session on the medium tires, the Dutchman just couldn't find that extra bit of magic when the teams switched to the soft compound for their qualifying simulations, finishing third, just 0.002s behind Piastri.
Norris, on the other hand, looked utterly in control, threading his car through the sweeping corners of Spa with the precision of a surgeon. His smooth and consistent lap was a masterclass in driving, leaving the rest of the field in his wake.
The Ferraris of Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz emerged as the third-best team, but they were still some way off the pace of the McLarens, with Leclerc finishing fourth, 0.577s adrift, and Sainz fifth, 0.827s behind Norris.
Further down the order, the story was one of contrasting fortunes. Sergio Perez, under pressure after a poor run of form, continued to struggle, finishing ninth and over a second off Verstappen's pace. Meanwhile, Esteban Ocon bounced back from missing most of FP1 with a suspected leak to finish a superb seventh for Alpine.
With the weather forecast predicting a high chance of rain for Saturday's final practice and qualifying sessions, the teams will now be burning the midnight oil, analyzing the data from FP2 and making the necessary adjustments to their setups to prepare for the changing conditions.
One thing is for certain, though – Lando Norris has thrown down the gauntlet, and the rest of the grid will have to dig deep to try and match the young Briton's blistering pace.
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