Ricciardo, Hamilton, and Albon finish close behind.
SPA-FRANCHORCHAMPS, Belgium—August 28th—He might still have one year to go before he races on this home turf in the Netherlands but, at the very least, Max Verstappen can call the Ardennes circuit his closest base. And the Red Bull driver set the fastest time of the day on Friday afternoon in the practice sessions for Sunday’s Belgian Grand Prix.
Verstappen set a 1:43:744 best time ahead of a surprising Daniel Ricciardo in his Renault. Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton was third. Hamilton struggled in sectors one and three but did well in the middle zone.
“I think they (Mercedes) are still struggling a bit with the balance,” Verstappen said. “I expect them to be stronger Saturday.” And Hamilton felt other teams would, too. “It is very close out there…even the Racing Point is right with us, and Daniel Ricciardo in the Renault was very close.”
Ricciardo, who has a car that is usually good on high-speed, low downforce circuits like this one, also benefitted by a turned-up engine that made him strong into the first and third sectors of the course. But he faced issues, too. With a hydraulic system failure, the Australian managed to complete only two laps in the afternoon session.
Alex Albon, who finished the day in fourth in the second Red Bull, was only 0.390 seconds slower than teammate Verstappen. Returning after a case of Coronavirus, Sergio Perez was fifth in his Racing Point. Valtteri Bottas, who had the fastest time in the morning, was sixth in the second Mercedes and looked uncomfortable behind the wheel.
The two McLarens of Lando Norris and Carlos Sainz Jr. continued to place in the top ten at seventh and ninth, respectively. The second Renault of Esteban Ocon kept up his excellent showing by also placing eighth. Another Frenchman, Pierre Gasly, who had a rough last week after having his home robbed while he was racing in Spain, took the last top ten position in his Alpha Tauri.
