Are Mercedes already missing the qualification mode in Belgium? New engines today

Mercedes do not yet seem to be the big favourite for the Belgian Grand Prix. Max Verstappen topped the timesheet of the second free practice session, but that might be because of the new Mercedes engines.

"We've had new power units in both cars today and some updated bodywork. So far that all appears to be working as expected. The sessions were a bit messy, although it's always difficult with such a long circuit as you don't get many laps in each run," announced Andrew Shovlin in the Mercedes press release.

Mercedes with a new engine?

With the new engine regulations around the corner, it is therefore possible that Mercedes are already driving with the modified engine. From the Italian Grand Prix onwards, Formula 1 wants to ban qualifying mode. The question now is whether Mercedes are already missing party mode?

"Both drivers have struggled a bit with the balance, mainly with a weak front end and we looked a bit slower than we normally do on a Friday even when the car seems to be working well. We've got a few areas that we are already looking into and hopefully we can make some progress for tomorrow. On the high fuel runs the midfield appears a bit closer than they did in previous races, so we can probably find a bit of time there. Looking at the forecast, there's a good chance of rain on Sunday, which would make this a very exciting race," the engineer concluded