FP2: Norris tops the second practice times ahead of Piastri and Verstappen in Belgium

Lando Norris showed impressive pace to top the times in second practice for the Belgian Grand Prix, 0.2s quicker than McLaren team mate Oscar Piastri with championship leader Max Verstappen third.

As forecasted rain failed to strike, with the teams making the most of a dry Spa-Francorchamps track to crack on with preparations for qualifying and the race.

Verstappen, who has a 10-place grid penalty for Sunday’s race after fitting a fifth internal combustion engine, continued his superb pace from FP1 with the leading time on the mediums in the early running.

But when attention turned to qualifying simulations on the soft Pirelli tyres, it was the McLarens that came to the fore.

Hungarian Grand Prix winner Piastri kicked up some gravel at Turn 7 (which would have cost him at least a couple of tenths of a second) to go quickest.

Verstappen couldn’t respond to beat him, crossing the line just 0.002s adrift, but the other McLaren of Norris kept it super smooth to go fastest with a 1m 42.260s lap, 0.215s quicker than anyone else.

Sergio Perez – who is under pressure after a poor run of form – continued to struggle to match team mate Verstappen in Belgium, the Mexican finishing FP2 a second off the pace of the Dutchman in ninth.

The Ferraris emerged as the third-best squad at this stage of the weekend, with Charles Leclerc fourth, 0.577s off the pace, and Carlos Sainz 0.25s further back in fifth.

George Russell was the leading Mercedes in sixth, one second off the pace, ahead of Haas-bound Esteban Ocon – who bounced back from missing most of FP1 with a suspected leak to finish a superb seventh for Alpine.

Kevin Magnussen was an impressive eighth for Haas with Lewis Hamilton – who has finished in the top-four in each of the last five Grands Prix – completing the top-10.

Aston Martin hovered outside the top-10 with Lance Stroll pipping Fernando Alonso by just 0.006s, with Valtteri Bottas continuing Sauber’s slight upturn in form with 13th.

RB look like they could be in for a challenging weekend, with Daniel Ricciardo 14th and team mate Yuki Tsunoda – who will start at the back after a string of new engine component changes that will confine him to the back – 20th.

Pierre Gasly was 15th, ahead of Nico Hulkenberg, the Williams duo of Alex Albon and Logan Sargeant and Sauber’s Zhou Guanyu.

Teams will now go away and do their homework overnight to assess their set-up options for Saturday, when there is a high chance of rain throughout the day that could impact both final practice and qualifying.