Norris heads McLaren 1-2 in FP2

Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri gave McLaren a 1-2 in FP2 for Formula 1’s 2024 Belgian Grand Prix ahead of Max Verstappen, while in the other Red Bull Sergio Perez was again massively adrift.

The result provided a significant twist in the weekend’s early narrative after Verstappen had crushed the field in FP1, while the pressure on Perez increased given his gap to his team-mate with Red Bull set to decide on his F1 future following this race.

Under heavier skies compared to Friday afternoon’s earlier FP1 session, Verstappen quickly again moved to the top times with his early laps on the medium tyre.

Verstappen established the first place benchmark at 1m43.456s, which he improved to a 1m43.339s with a second run his first set of tyres – heading Norris’s McLaren, which unusually for FP2, had been fitted with softs from the off.

Norris sat 0.1s off Verstappen’s best time after his first flier, which grew to 0.2s after the Dutchman’s improvement, with Norris’s second lap on his softs coming in 0.002s down on his personal best at this stage.

The pack then headed to the pits around the 15-minute mark, before Sainz kicked off the more typical qualifying simulation runs through FP2’s middle phase.

The Ferrari driver moved ahead of Verstappen’s initial benchmark with a 1m43.098s, before Piastri became the next driver to have a go on the softs.

He beat Sainz with a 1m42.475s – despite a wild moment coming out of Turn 9, the final part of Les Combes, where he dipped his left-rear in the gravel.

Verstappen then tried on the red walled rubber but could not topple Piastri as his softs effort came in 0.002s down, with the Red Bull losing time in the third sector compared to Verstappen’s previous personal best.

With Sainz shuffled down and then beaten by team-mate Charles Leclerc to put the Ferrari drivers fourth and fifth, Norris then reappeared on a new set of softs for a proper FP2 qualifying simulation.

Norris then shot to the quickest times in the second and third sectors to produce a 1m42.260s that put him 0.215s clear of Piastri and 0.217s over Verstappen.

Behind the leaders, George Russell was the top Mercedes driver in sixth, with Alpine’s Esteban Ocon and Kevin Magnussen (Haas) getting in front of the embattled Perez on the lower-fuel runs.

Perez ended up 1.244s down on Norris, with a 1.27s difference to Verstappen in the other…