Kimi Raikkonen kept Ferrari at the top of the times after leading Lewis Hamilton in second practice at the Belgian Grand Prix.
The Finn, who is known as the ‘King of Spa’, proved why many people expect him to be a strong contender for a fifth victory in the Ardennes, setting a 1m43.355s on the Supersoft tyre during the low fuel simulations, 0.168s clear of the Mercedes.
His teammate Sebastian Vettel, who led in the morning, made a mistake during both his attempted flying laps and would finish seven-tenths off the pace in fifth in the second Prancing Horse.
Valtteri Bottas would be third, opting to run a conventional plan in the second session despite being set to start at the back due to engine penalties, with Max Verstappen the lead of the Red Bulls in fourth.
Daniel Ricciardo was in catch-up mode after fuel injection issue left him sidelined for almost all the first 90 minutes of running. The Australian would also be one of several drivers to be warned for cutting the corner at the top of Eau Rouge/ Raidillon as he finished sixth fastest, two-tenths behind his Dutch partner.
In the midfield, Sergio Perez gave Force India reason for optimism, finishing ‘best of the rest’ in seventh. Carlos Sainz also indicated Renault would be more competitive than perhaps expected in eighth.
Sauber though, indicated why the Ferrari customers are tipped to be the teams to beat as Marcus Ericsson led teammate Charles Leclerc by a tenth to complete the top 10.
Perhaps the most surprising story of the day was Haas’ lack of pace after being the fourth fastest squad before the summer break, instead, Romain Grosjean only maintained his 12th place from the morning while Kevin Magnussen languished in 14th.
Toro Rosso, Williams and McLaren continued to bring up the order with Pierre Gasly 15th, just ahead of Fernando Alonso, who returned after giving Lando Norris his car in the opening practice.
Sergey Sirotkin was the lead Williams in 18th ahead of teammate Lance Stroll as Stoffel Vandoorne’s difficult start to his home race weekend continued in 20th.
As always, the final 30 minutes were handed over to a race simulation and Ferrari again look strong as Mercedes struggled for rear grip out of the slow corners and also under-braking with both Hamilton and Bottas picking up flat-spots at the Bus Stop chicane.
Red Bull were a little more competitive, as always, and their lack of downforce allowed Verstappen to be the quickest man in the final sector where DRS doesn’t negate the differing rear wing levels.
Even so, a shoot-out between Hamilton and the two Ferraris await, if the weather doesn’t decide to put a curveball into the proceedings…
