Belgian GP: Free Practice 2 – Webber Passes Between the Raindrops

As new showers watered the track, where the track temperature was only 21°C, drivers were quick to take to the circuit while engineers were still at work in the Force India garage repairing the damage caused during its morning outing on Di Resta’s car. Exceptionally, the Scot will share his garage with Nico Hülkenberg, who will participate in this second free practice session in place of Adrian Sutil.

Kobayashi is the first to cross the timing line with a time of 2’16”279 before being displaced by Mark Webber, who clocked laps of 2’11”652, then 2’10”524, and finally 2’09”094.

But already Bruno Senna exits his garage and records the 3rd fastest time at 2:10.901 behind the Australian and Fernando Alonso. A few seconds later, Alguersuari matches the Brazilian’s time but the track dries up and most drivers improve their respective times. Senna, Vettel, Buemi, and Alonso take turns leading the timing sheet, with a 2:03.953 for the Spaniard. Jenson Button, after a first attempt aborted due to traffic, takes the lead on the timing sheet himself: 2:02.206 for the Briton.

After half an hour of testing, the McLaren driver leads Schumacher, Alguersuari, Hülkenberg, Alonso, Vettel, Buemi, Barrichello, Perez, Senna, and Kobayashi, while neither Lewis Hamilton nor Paul di Resta has registered a single timed lap.

As the track dries up significantly, the teams are hesitant to switch to slick tires, as the sky remains threatening. The Ferrari drivers are the first to fit the hard tires, and the 2005 and 2006 world champion is the first to go under the two-minute mark with 1’56”292 and then 1’53”942 in the following lap, while Lewis Hamilton begins his first stint directly on slick tires.

Michael Schumacher, on soft tires, tops the leaderboard with a time of 1’52”102 as the onboard camera shows the German driver closing his DRS in the Blanchimont corner. However, the German doesn’t stay at the top for long, as he is displaced by his teammate with a time of 1’51”967, who in turn is displaced by Vettel, by less than two-tenths, also on soft tires.

As rain is forecast, Mark Webber’s engineer calls his driver into the pits to fit the softest tires and thus collect valuable data for the rest of the weekend, should it be contested on a dry track. In his first flying lap, the Australian flirts with the 1:50 mark and takes the fastest time ahead of Fernando Alonso and the two McLaren drivers.

But the marshals are waving the red and yellow flag, signaling a slippery track, as rain once again falls over the Ardennes rollercoaster. As the drivers return to the pits with much caution, the provisional standings are likely to resemble the final standings since the rainy episode seems set to continue. Mark Webber should therefore remain at the top of the time sheets ahead of Alonso, Button, Hamilton, Massa, Rosberg, Perez, Hülkenberg, Di Resta, Vettel, Schumacher, Maldonado, Kobayashi, Alguersuari, Buemi, Barrichello, Senna, Trulli, Glock, Kovalainen, D’Ambrosio, Liuzzi, Ricciardo, and Petrov.

Even though the track remains relatively manageable, no driver ventures out, likely with the intention of preserving tires in anticipation of a similar end to the weekend. As the last quarter-hour approaches, Timo Glock and Kamui Kobayashi head out with intermediate tires, but the Virgin driver has a minor scare by making a mistake in the Double Left, without consequences. The two drivers are joined by Senna, Maldonado, and Webber, with the Australian not having driven on intermediate tires, taking the opportunity to gather data: his best lap is 2’17”615. With three minutes to go, most drivers are on track, but no changes are noted in the standings until the checkered flag.

Results of Free Practice 2 of the Belgian Grand Prix: