Hamilton on top as rain halts second practice

2017 Belgian Grand Prix third practice

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Lewis Hamilton led the second practice session at Spa-Francorchamps before rain brought an early halt to running.

The Mercedes driver lapped almost two seconds inside the pole position time set by Mercedes last year, though he didn’t set the quickest time in any of the three sectors around the seven kilometre track.

Belgian Grand Prix practice in pictures
Five drivers were separated by less than half a second when the chequered flag fell, including both of the Mercedes and Ferrari drivers. Kimi Raikkonen, who was quickest in the first session, was a quarter of a second off Hamilton’s pace.

Just five-hundredths of a second covered Valtteri Bottas, Max Verstappen and Sebastian Vettel. Daniel Ricciardo was quickest in the first and third sectors but lost too much time in the middle of the lap running a thinner rear wing on his Red Bull.

Nico Hulkenberg put his Renault in seventh, just two-tenths of a second faster than his under-fire team mate Jolyon Palmer. The two RS17s were separated by Esteban Ocon and Carlos Sainz Jnr.

Williams were unable to get Felipe Massa’s car ready in time for the second session following his crash during first practice, so he was unable to set a time. In a further setback for the team, Lance Stroll is under investigation for re-using one of the tyres which he was only supposed to run during the first 40 minutes of first practice.

Pos. No. Driver Car Best lap Gap Laps
1 44 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1’44.753 17
2 7 Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari 1’45.015 0.262 21
3 77 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 1’45.180 0.427 17
4 33 Max Verstappen Red Bull-TAG Heuer 1’45.225 0.472 16
5 5 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 1’45.235 0.482 20
6 3 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull-TAG Heuer 1’46.072 1.319 15
7 27 Nico Hulkenberg Renault 1’46.441 1.688 24
8 31 Esteban Ocon Force India-Mercedes 1’46.473 1.720 19
9 55 Carlos Sainz Jnr Toro Rosso-Renault 1’46.561 1.808 19
10 30 Jolyon Palmer Renault 1’46.670 1.917 23
11 14 Fernando Alonso McLaren-Honda 1’46.743 1.990 20
12 11 Sergio Perez Force India-Mercedes 1’46.984 2.231 18
13 8 Romain Grosjean Haas-Ferrari 1’47.285 2.532 15
14 2 Stoffel Vandoorne McLaren-Honda 1’47.303 2.550 17
15 26 Daniil Kvyat Toro Rosso-Renault 1’47.450 2.697 12
16 20 Kevin Magnussen Haas-Ferrari 1’47.556 2.803 15
17 18 Lance Stroll Williams-Mercedes 1’47.861 3.108 13
18 9 Marcus Ericsson Sauber-Ferrari 1’49.214 4.461 12
19 94 Pascal Wehrlein Sauber-Ferrari 1’49.725 4.972 18

Second practice visual gaps

Lewis Hamilton – 1’44.753

+0.262 Kimi Raikkonen – 1’45.015

+0.427 Valtteri Bottas – 1’45.180

+0.472 Max Verstappen – 1’45.225

+0.482 Sebastian Vettel – 1’45.235

+1.319 Daniel Ricciardo – 1’46.072

+1.688 Nico Hulkenberg – 1’46.441

+1.720 Esteban Ocon – 1’46.473

+1.808 Carlos Sainz Jnr – 1’46.561

+1.917 Jolyon Palmer – 1’46.670

+1.990 Fernando Alonso – 1’46.743

+2.231 Sergio Perez – 1’46.984

+2.532 Romain Grosjean – 1’47.285

+2.550 Stoffel Vandoorne – 1’47.303

+2.697 Daniil Kvyat – 1’47.450

+2.803 Kevin Magnussen – 1’47.556

+3.108 Lance Stroll – 1’47.861

+4.461 Marcus Ericsson – 1’49.214

+4.972 Pascal Wehrlein – 1’49.725

Drivers more then ten seconds off the pace omitted.

Drivers times by tyres

Driver Team Best ultra-soft time Ultra-soft gap Best super-soft time Super-soft gap Best soft time Soft gap
Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1’44.753 None 1’45.634
Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 1’45.180 0.427 1’46.331 None
Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull 1’46.072 1.319 1’47.036 0.705 None
Max Verstappen Red Bull 1’45.225 0.472 1’46.481 0.15 None
Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 1’45.235 0.482 1’46.405 0.074 None
Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari 1’45.015 0.262 None 1’47.049 1.415
Sergio Perez Force India 1’46.984 2.231 1’47.973 1.642 None
Esteban Ocon Force India 1’46.473 1.72 1’47.858 1.527 None
Felipe Massa Williams None None None
Lance Stroll Williams 1’47.861 3.108 1’48.331 2 None
Fernando Alonso McLaren 1’46.743 1.99 None 1’48.721 3.087
Stoffel Vandoorne McLaren 1’47.303 2.55 1’48.128 1.797 None
Carlos Sainz Jnr Toro Rosso 1’46.561 1.808 1’47.176 0.845 None
Daniil Kvyat Toro Rosso 1’47.450 2.697 1’48.098 1.767 None
Romain Grosjean Haas 1’47.285 2.532 1’48.756 2.425 None
Kevin Magnussen Haas 1’47.556 2.803 None 1’48.973 3.339
Nico Hulkenberg Renault 1’46.441 1.688 1’48.341 2.01 None
Jolyon Palmer Renault 1’46.670 1.917 1’48.815 2.484 None
Marcus Ericsson Sauber 1’49.214 4.461 1’49.887 3.556 None
Pascal Wehrlein Sauber 1’49.725 4.972 None 1’50.880 5.246

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Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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18 comments on “Hamilton on top as rain halts second practice”

  1. Red Bull looking good. Ricciardo was on a good lap but apparently got help up by Hamilton in sector 2 and lost 1.5s, but if I’m not mistaken he was quickest in sectors 1 and 3 (or at least he was at the time).

    1. Agreed.

      Dan was on a decent couple of laps however was unfortunately slowed both times through sector two with traffic.

    2. He was fastest in the first and last sector largely because of the Monza style rear wing, as Sky explained. Maybe held up a bit – but largest deficit in the middle sector down to that setup.

  2. I don`t see how anybody will beat Hamilton for the pole! It will be an easy one for him. Let`s hope that the race will be a different story and Vettel and Raikkonen will manage to make his life tough!

  3. Kimi looks consistent, man am I excited ! Come on Kimi let’s do this .

    1. Hou Ahold be…it,s something special.

      1. You should be…it,s something special.

    2. Fingers crossed…

  4. Seems like the top three teams are clearly (and unsurprisingly) in a league of their own, while the midfield battle then is extremely close between basically rest of the field (apart from Sauber). Should make for some interesting Q1 and Q2 sessions.

    1. Yes the gap to the midfield is scary isn’t it, Im just glad that this year two teams are battling it out and a third one will soon join the mix.

  5. “Lance Stroll is under investigation for re-using one of the tyres which he was only supposed to run during the first 40 minutes of first practice.”

    F1 is fun innit.

  6. At the other end of the list, the Saubers really do have problems, don’t they?

  7. Really love the ‘Drivers times by tyres’ table.
    Thanks you for this great effort @keithcollantine

    1. Yes agree that is just awesome !@ruliemaulana @keithcollantine

  8. why do you think is the reason than Ocon is always on front on practice and somehow in qualy Perez always do something to turn the thing around?

  9. Vandoorne really needs to up his game. He’s on the latest spec engine.. He was once billed as the Second Coming. Let’s see it then, home Grand Prix, fresh motor, everything to play for…

  10. It was said on TV that Williams could have probably finished the car for Massa to get a few runs in {yes I know it rained at the end} but then we were told the car had to be scrutineered…. again before they could run it…so no second practice.
    Surely as this was practice and not qualifying, or the race…could they not have taken to the track, even if just to check all was well….the team would not send out a unsafe car…..
    Think if all this is true, the rule needs modifying

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