FP2 Report: Verstappen and Mercedes separated by less than one-tenth

Max Verstappen has topped the second practice session ahead of the Belgian Grand Prix but caused the final red flag with a crash. Just over an hour after Red Bull Racing confirmed Sergio Perez will remain as his teammate for the 2022 season, the Dutchman beat Mercedes by less than one-tenth of a second. Valtteri Bottas came second, just 0.041 seconds behind, with Lewis Hamilton rounding out the top three. 

The session saw two red flags. Charles Leclerc crashed into the wall with around 15 minutes left of the session. The Ferrari driver didn't impress throughout, and could only record the 18th fastest time. Then in the final five minutes, Verstappen hit the wall to cause the second red flag. 

Continuing their honeymoon period, Alpine had yet another strong Formula 1 session. Esteban Ocon spent time at the top of the leaderboard, and Fernando Alonso finished inside the top four whilst teammate Ocon finished seventh. After the red flag, teams and drivers completed their race simulations. 

Pierre Gasly, both Aston Martin drivers, Lando Norris and Sergio Perez rounded out the top 10. 

FP2 FINAL CLASSIFICATION#BelgianGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/M8UqQXtJdw

— Formula 1 (@F1) August 27, 2021

How it happened

The session started just after Red Bull Racing confirmed Sergio Perez's contract extension. The Mexican driver will stay as Max Verstappen's number two driver for next season. His Mercedes counterpart Valtteri Bottas, who still has his future in doubt, emerged out of the pitlane first. 

Despite some earlier rain, a dry racing line sat around the track. Intermediates were used for the exploratory laps, but Lando Norris requested slicks and posted a 1:48.219. His fellow countryman, who also starts his 50th Grand Prix this weekend, set the second fast lap. 

Esteban Ocon and Nicholas Latifi spent time at the top of the leaderboard before the big names came out onto the Spa-Francorchamps circuit. Bottas moved to the top of the timesheets with a 1:44.513 and Lewis Hamilton wasn't far behind. Their rival Verstappen was six-tenths behind. 

Qualifying simulations 

With 30 minutes remaining, Mercedes opted to run the soft tyres for qualifying simulations. Whilst Hamilton went purple in the second sector, the Brit wasn't able to improve in sector one and sector three likely to be down to the engine modes selected. 

Meanwhile, Max Verstappen found improvements. On fresh soft tyres, the Dutchman had a very strong middle sector which was good enough to take him to the top of the timesheets. The Hungarian Grand Prix winner Esteban Ocon had a major spin in sector two but pulled away without any major damage. 

Leclerc hit the wall in sector two to cause the red flag. When the track returned to green conditions, drivers and teams completed their race simulations. This concluded with a red flag when Verstappen crashed.