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Verstappen leads Red Bull one-two
SPA-FRANCORCHAMPS: Dutch teenager Max Verstappen delighted his army of fans in the forests of the Ardennes on Friday afternoon when he topped the times in second
SPA-FRANCORCHAMPS: Dutch teenager Max Verstappen delighted his army of fans in the forests of the Ardennes on Friday afternoon when he topped the times in second free practice for this weekend’s Belgian Grand Prix.
The 18-year-old Red Bull driver, who was born 50 kilometres away from the circuit at Hasselt in Belgium, clocked a best lap of one minute and 48.085 seconds.
That allowed him to outpace Australian teammate Daniel Ricciardo by two-tenths as the Renault-powered outfit delivered a strong one-two showing.
It was the third time in Verstappen’s brief Formula One career that he had topped the session times and did so in front of thousands of supporters camping under the trees in the unexpected heat-wave conditions.
Rosberg had been fastest in a Mercedes one-two ahead of championship leader and defending champion Lewis Hamilton in the morning session, but both men concentrated on preparation for the race with long runs on medium tyres.
Hamilton, as he had in the morning, had a new power unit installed and will face a massive grid penalty for the race along with several other penalised drivers including two-time champion Fernando Alonso of McLaren Honda.
HAMILTON HOPES TO DRIVE THROUGH FIELD
Starting from the back row at the Belgian Grand Prix will do little for Lewis Hamilton’s chances of a 50th career race win.
But it will bring back exciting memories of his childhood days racing against the odds in karts.
“I had a really bad go-kart when I started and always had to start last because it was so bad, and then I drove through the field,” the 31-year-old British driver said. “I hope I still know how to do it.”
Hamilton took a 15-place grid penalty in Friday’s morning practice session for having changed too many engine parts this season, and was then handed a further 15-place penalty following another component change in the afternoon.
That means he will start Sunday’s race from the back row along with McLaren’s Fernando Alonso, who incurred a 35-place grid penalty for a similar array of component changes.
