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World championship leader Kimi Antonelli produced a dominant display at the top of second practice at the Belgian Grand Prix.
The Mercedes driver was uncharacteristically off the pace in first practice earlier on Friday, but rediscovered the pace he has consistently shown all season to finish almost two tenths ahead of McLaren’s Lando Norris.
Topping first practice for Red Bull, Max Verstappen finished third, almost half a second behind Antonelli, amid some furious complaints on team radio about his car’s gear shift.
Antonelli will be more buoyed by the distance he has managed to put between himself and his nearest title rivals.
19-year-old Mercedes team-mate George Russell, who is 25 points back in second, was 1.285 seconds off the pace in eighth.
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Max Verstappen brought out the red flag during the second practice session at the Belgian GP.
Lewis Hamilton, who is seven points behind Russell, was fourth for Ferrari but trailed Antonelli by almost three quarters of a second as he beat Verstappen’s Red Bull team-mate Issac Hajjar.
Although the result gave little boost to his title hopes, Hamilton was at least able to overtake his teammate Charles Leclerc, who could only manage 11th after his British Grand Prix win.
Oscar Piastri was almost a second off the pace in sixth for McLaren, but had to contend with a hydraulic problem that kept him off the track for the first 20 minutes of the session.
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Pierre Gasly crashed out of the second practice session of the Belgian GP.
Franco Colapinto impressively overtook Russell to finish seventh for Alpine, while Racing Bulls duo Arvid Lindblad and Liam Lawson continued their consistent form to complete the top 10.
A major crash saw the last quarter of the session for another Alpine driver Pierre Gasly but lost at a red-flag stoppage, with the drivers able to return to the track with just two minutes to go in practice.
It was the second red flag of the session, as earlier there was a short delay clearing gravel from the track when it was whipped into the circuit by a wide car.
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Sky Sports F1’s Bernie Collins runs through the new upgrades ahead of the Belgian GP.
Norris and Hajjar were already condemned to 10-place grid penalties for exceeding their engine part allowances, with both Ferrari drivers avoiding joining them as the team only escaped with a penalty after breaching the rules by failing to return tires to supplier Pirelli after first practice.
Antonelli: We’ve made big changes
Antonelli confirmed after the session that Mercedes had made “big changes” between Friday’s sessions, enabling him to find more pace.
“We made big changes with the car, and it was a lot better, so that’s a good side,” Antonelli said.
“Obviously, there’s still a lot of work to do, as a team as well as with my driving, but it was a very good session and I’m now looking forward to tomorrow.”
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Despite going fast in P2, Kimi Antonelli still says Mercedes have work to do before qualifying.
The Italian arrived in Belgium in strong form despite his title lead shrinking to 41 points over the last three rounds.
He retired from second place in the closing stages at Barcelona due to engine failure and was on the verge of victory at Silverstone two weeks ago when a wheel-guard failure dropped him from the points.
Despite his closing advantage, it could be argued that Antonelli has looked more dominant over his teammate Russell than at any stage of the historic five-race winning streak earlier this season that established a major title-race lead.
Antonelli added: “Silverstone was a great weekend but we came away with no points, which obviously hurt a lot.
“This weekend is different, a new challenge, and the goal is still to maximize every session, every time I get in the car, and then maximize the result. But for sure today was the end, but now there is a lot of work for tomorrow.”
Sky Sports F1’s Belgian GP schedule
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Take a look back at some of the year’s most dramatic moments at the Belgian Grand Prix
Saturday 18 July
9am: F3 sprint
11.15am: Belgian GP Practice Three (session starts at 11.30am)
1.15pm: F2 sprint
2.15pm: Belgian GP Qualifying Build-up*
3pm: Belgian GP Qualifying*
Sunday 19 July
7.30am: F3 Feature Race
9am: F2 Feature Race
10.45am: Porsche Supercup
12.30pm: Belgian GP build-up: Grand Prix Sunday
2pm: Belgian Grand Prix
4pm: Belgian GP reaction: checkered flag
*Also on Sky Sports main events
Formula 1’s summer run continues this weekend with the Belgian Grand Prix at the legendary Spa-Francorchamps, live on Sky Sports F1. Stream Sky Sports now – no contract, cancel anytime
