After nearly a month of gap, Formula One world tour action resumes in Belgium and there is very little to separate Ferrari and Mercedes once again as Lewis Hamilton and Kimi Raikkonen have dominated the first two practice sessions on Friday, August 26.
As the heavens opened up towards the end of the second practice session at the Spa, Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton put on a show to outclass Kimi Raikkonen of Ferrari, clocking a time that was 0.262s quicker than the FP1 leader.
The difference between the top five drivers was negligible as Silver Arrows new-recruit Valtteri Bottas finished third in FP2 with a timing of 1:45.180s.
Red Bull sent out a strong message as well as Max Verstappen finished above drivers championships leader Sebastian Vettel at fourth. Notably, the 19-year-old was impressive in F1 one as well, managing to finish behind the trio of Raikkonen, Hamilton and Vettel. Daniel Ricciardo finished after Vettel at FP2 clocking 1:46.072s.
Hamilton, who is trailing title leader Vettel by 14 points at 188, opined that Ferrari were faster in the race-simulation runs, but that his team are not lagging behind too much.
Notably, the Brit had a poor qualifying race last year. But he managed to finish third behind Nico Rosberg and Ricciardo. With the Ferraris maintaining the pressure on Mercedes, Hamilton would want a strong show.
"It was a good day. The car was feeling good from the get-go and the set-up changes we made were in the right direction," Hamilton said, on Friday.
He added: "On the long run, the Ferraris looked quickest but I don't think we are in a bad place."
"For me I was not so happy. I did not really find the rhythm, especially on the short run. The long run was better. So overall I think the car is there to do the job, to go fast, but we just need to get it right on all fronts," Vettel said.
When does FP3 and qualifying start and how to watch it live
The Hungarian Grand Prix 2017 FP3 is scheduled for 11 am local time, 2:30pm IST. Qualifying starts at 2pm local time, 5:30pm IST. Live streaming and TV listings are given below:
India: TV: Star Sports Select HD2. Live Streaming: Hotstar.
UK: TV: Sky Sports F1. Live Streaming: Watch Sky Sports.
USA: TV: NBCSN. Live Streaming: NBC Sports Live.
Asia: TV: Fox Sports. Live Streaming: Fox Sports Play.
Australia: TV: Ten HD. Live Streaming: Ten Play.
