This weekend, F1 returns after a lengthy summer break at the Spa-Francorchamps circuit with the Belgian GP. Although Sunday provides the result that matters, drivers shook off any cobwebs which formed during the break in the second free practice session.

With fans expecting the battle between Red Bull and Mercedes, they did not disappoint in FP2. Fighting for top spot on the timesheets, Max Verstappen narrowly edged out his competitors at Mercedes. However, the Dutchman, along with Charles Leclerc produced the biggest moments of the session by crashing in the same part of the track.

Max Verstappen shoots to the top of the timesheets in FP2 at the Belgian GP

Crowd-favorite Verstappen put on a sizzling lap to take top spot in the final Friday practice session. Although he didn’t clock the fastest final sector, the Dutchman’s impeccable middle sector helped him go 0.041s faster than Valtteri Bottas, who finished second.

While the Dutchman set the fastest time, disaster struck just three minutes from the end. After the Les Combes sequence, Verstappen lost the rear end of his car, which caused him to crash.

Lewis Hamilton, who struggled massively in the first practice session earlier, finished third. Despite putting on an excellent lap, the Briton will need to extract more pace from his W12 to catch his Dutch rival.

Sergio Perez, who will race for Red Bull in 2022, finished far behind in 10th place. Although neither team could properly test race pace, the Mexican will look to improve ahead of qualifying tomorrow.

Charles Leclerc crashes at Les Combes

Arriving at the track where he won his first F1 race, Leclerc made a costly error at Turn 6. Right after the Kemmel straight, the Monegasque lost control of his car, which sent him into the barriers. The red flag waved after his incident caused a four-minute delay in the session.

Among the midfield contenders, Fernando Alonso stormed to P4 in the timesheets, with Pierre Gasly close behind in P5.