The Belgian Grand Prix second practice session was a chaotic affair, with Pierre Gasly's crash into the barriers disrupting the long runs for many drivers. This has left us with an incomplete picture of team performance, but there are still valuable clues to be gleaned from the data we have.
Single-Lap Pace
The single-lap times provide a clearer picture of team performance, and it's clear that Mercedes is in fine form with Kimi Antonelli setting the pace at 1m45.944s. This is a strong showing for Mercedes, and it's interesting to see that they've made significant changes between practice sessions, with Antonelli feeling much better in FP2.
Lando Norris of McLaren is close behind, with a time of 1m46.134s, while Max Verstappen of Red Bull is just 0.472s behind Antonelli. Lewis Hamilton of Ferrari is 0.747s behind, and Isack Hadjar of Red Bull is 0.770s behind. Oscar Piastri of McLaren is 0.982s behind, while Franco Colapinto of Alpine is 1.203s behind.
George Russell of Mercedes, who was down on power due to an issue in FP1, is 1.285s behind Antonelli. This is a significant gap, and it suggests that Russell is not harvesting energy as efficiently as Antonelli. The Mercedes deployment trick, which was revealed at Silverstone, appears to be back at Spa, with both drivers lifting off just before the start/finish line.
Long Runs
The long runs provide a more comprehensive picture of team performance, and it's clear that Mercedes is in fine form with Antonelli setting a consistent pace over four laps, with all four laps separated by less than three tenths of a second.
Verstappen completed the longest long run, but he split the Mercedes duo and looked solid over a single lap too. Hadjar was a clear step behind, although his weekend has already been compromised by a back-of-the-grid penalty for multiple engine component changes that exceed his 2026 allowance.
Energy Deployment Strategies
The run to Les Combes is the perfect example of how differently Mercedes and Ferrari are approaching those deployment strategies right now. Hamilton's fastest FP2 lap is in red, and Antonelli's FP2 benchmark is in green. This suggests that there is a significant difference in energy deployment strategies between the two teams.
Conclusion
The Belgian Grand Prix second practice session has left us with an incomplete picture of team performance, but there are still valuable clues to be gleaned from the data we have. The single-lap times provide a clearer picture of team performance, while the long runs provide a more comprehensive picture. The energy deployment strategies of Mercedes and Ferrari are a key factor in the pecking order, and it's likely that these strategies will converge more by Saturday.
As McLaren said in its post-Friday summary, 'At a circuit where differences in energy deployment and maximum performance extraction play a key role, the current pecking order remains far from fixed, and today's result does not portray the true competitive standing.'
