McLaren continues challenging Red Bull.
SPA-FRANCHORCHAMPS, Belgium—Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri proved Friday afternoon that their McLarens are challenging for the championship. Both led a 1-2 finish in second practice for Sunday’s Belgian Grand Prix. Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, who will take a ten-place grid penalty for a power unit change, finished in third.
The Red Bull team expected the penalty and chose the Belgian GP circuit because it thinks it’s the most advantageous location to take the penalty and still have an opportunity to come from the back of the pack to notch a race victory.
Norris’s time of 1:42:260 was set in the middle of the session. Verstappen, who took the early lead in the opening morning session, did not lead for long, as the top two quickly followed in front.
Ferrari, who had been very quiet lately in the last two races, placed their two cars in the following two positions, with Charles Leclerc in fourth and Carlos Sainz fifth. Mercedes had a slightly more disappointing session despite placing their two entries in the top ten, with George Russell taking sixth and Lewis Hamilton finishing in tenth. In the current Haas car, Kevin Magnussen placed eighth, with Red Bull’s Sergio Perez disappointing once again in his Red Bull in ninth.
Esteban Ocon, who announced this week that he would be joining the American Haas F1 Team next season, proved he could put his Alpine up front with a seventh-place finish in the new livery. Noteworthy is that the livery was made for the latest Ryan Reynolds motion picture, as Reynolds is one of the team’s investors.
Qualifying will be shown on ESPN2 beginning at 10:00 a.m. Saturday Eastern time and the race will be broadcast on Sunday at 9:00 a.m. Eastern on ESPN.
