George Russell finished an alarming eighth in practice for the Belgian Grand Prix as his world championship rival Kimi Antonelli set the pace.
Russell took advantage of Antonelli’s failure to finish at the last round in Silverstone to trim the Italian teenager’s title advantage to 25 points having been as many as 68 back after last month’s Monaco Grand Prix.
However, Russell ended the second session in Spa-Francorchamps trailing Antonelli by a distant 1.2 seconds.
“The rear tyres felt too cold, and I was sliding around a lot, but not 1.2 seconds cold,” reported a concerned Russell over the radio.
The gap to his Mercedes teammate will provide the Englishman with plenty to think about heading into the remainder of the 10th round here in the Ardennes.
Mercedes have secured pole position at every race so far but started the weekend on the back foot, with Antonelli and Russell a distant sixth and eighth in the opening running.
It was Max Verstappen who set the fastest lap in the first session only to finish third by the end of the day with Antonelli taking control and Lando Norris slotting into second place.
Norris is armed with a new battery in Belgium which will cost him a demotion of 10 places on the grid for Sunday’s 44-lap race having exceeded his permitted number of engine parts.
But the world champion will take some confidence from finishing just 0.190sec back from Antonelli and nearly three tenths faster than Red Bull’s Verstappen.
Lewis Hamilton took third at Silverstone to take 15 points out of Antonelli’s title lead. The seven-time world champion heads into Sunday’s race 32 points adrift as he chases a record eighth championship, and here he finished fourth in second practice – albeit 0.747sec behind.
Isack Hadjar took fifth for Red Bull, a place ahead of McLaren’s Oscar Piastri.
The session was suspended for 13 minutes in the final quarter after Pierre Gasly crashed out. The Alpine driver ran wide on the approach to Stavelot and lost control of his car when he skipped through the gravel before he clipped the barrier.
The force of the impact tore the rear wing off Gasly’s Alpine before the running was red-flagged. The session resumed with just two minutes left but Antonelli’s name would not be disturbed at the top of the time charts.
PA
I won’t accept people following me – Lando Norris fumes at paparazzi tactics
Kimi Antonelli reveals Roger Federer advice on handling F1 title race pressure
Saturday’s sport – what’s on and where can I watch it?
I won’t accept people following me – Lando Norris fumes at paparazzi tactics
India targets F1 return by 2028 as government moves to tackle tax hurdles
Kimi Antonelli reveals Roger Federer advice on handling F1 title race pressure
