25/08/2017
NEWS STORY
Ahead of today's second session, the air temperature is 22 degrees C, while the track temperature is 30 degrees. It's a little overcast with a 20% chance of rain.
Lewis Hamilton was the meat in a Ferrari sandwich this morning - or was the Maranello outfit the bread? - as Kimi Raikkonen left it last before posting the pace-setting 1:45.502.
However, while the Finn and his teammate were on ultrasofts, as were the Red Bull duo, the Briton, and Mercedes teammate Valtteri Bottas were on softs.
The only driver who failed to post a time was Felipe Massa who crashed out early on, and as a result of the damage done to his car the spare is being built during the lunchbreak meaning that the Brazilian will miss the second session.
Talk of the accident, which Massa attributes to going over the kerb, being a hangover from the illness which kept him out of the Hungarian Grand Prix, has been doing the round but the team is dismissing this.
Bottas also had an off, the Finn brushing the barriers but not incurring any significant damage.
Though a second off the pace, it was a strong session for Toro Rosso, Sainz and Kvyat finishing seventh and ninth, while Ocon and Vandoorne both out-performed their respective teammates.
The lights go green and the Haas duo get things underway. However, moments later Grosjean reports that his DRS is staying open, with Magnussen suffering a similar problem. Both drivers are told to pit.
In the Mercedes garage, Hamilton, wearing his windcheater (hood up, natch) is clearly listening to some music.
Palmer posts the first time of the afternoon, crossing the line at 1:48.846. Moments later Raikkonen posts 54.853.
Raikkonen subsequently improves to 47.04 to go quickest, ahead of Hulkenberg, Vandoorne and Palmer.
As Kvyat goes second (48.098), Vettel reports that he made a mistake in T9.
A 46.681 sees Verstappen go quickest, the Dutchman on the supersofts, as opposed to Raikkonen who is on softs.
A clean lap now sees Vettel go quickest (46.405), the German, like his teammate, on softs.
Kvyat reports "no power", but is told to continue. No such issues for teammate Sainz who posts 47.176 to go fourth.
No sooner has Ricciardo gone fifth, albeit 0.8s off his teammate's pace, than he is demoted by Bottas and then Hamilton, the Briton posting 45.634. Again, the three-time champ is on the soft rubber, his teammate on supersofts.
Told he has an issue, Ricciardo heads back to the pits.
Looks like Perez will be sucking something or other later... He allows Magnussen to pass but when he attempts to re-pass the Hass the Dane clearly blocks him. "Magnussen is so dirty, always," the Mexican tells his team.
Approaching thirty minutes, the Renault duo are first to switch to the ultrasofts.
Currently 13th (Hulkenberg) and 16th (Palmer), the German improves to 4th (46.441) and the Briton 6th (46.670).
Vettel is next to make the switch to the purple-banded rubber.
As Vettel goes quickest in S1, more and more drivers head out on the ultrasofts, including the Mercedes pair.
Vettel crosses the line at 45.235, as Palmer is advised that his team is worried that rain will hit later.
Bottas responds with a 45.180, the Finn posting PBs in the final two sectors.
A 45.015 sees Raikkonen take the top spot, with Verstappen posting 45.225 to go third moments later.
PBs in all three sectors sees Hamilton post 44.753.
Vettel goes quickest in S1 but a poor final sector means he remains 5th.
With Ricciardo yet to make an ultrasoft run, it's: Hamilton, Raikkonen, Bottas, Verstappen, Vettel, Hulkenberg, Ocon, Sainz, Palmer and Perez.
"We have some rain on the radar," Perez is told.
As Alonso goes tenth (46.743), Ricciardo heads out... but on the supersofts.
Hulkenberg complains of a "lot of understeer".
Now on the ultrasofts, Ricciardo improves to sixth with a 46.072, albeit 1.319s off the pace.
Sainz reports "no power", which is what Kvyat suffered earlier. "Oh, it's coming back," reports the Spaniard.
Check out our Friday gallery from Spa, here.
As attention now turns to longer runs on high fuel, Raikkonen claims he's suffering from poor front grip.
"Oops," says Verstappen when advised that the first lap of his long run was four-tenths up on the Mercedes, the Red Bull driver having obviously been told to ensure his tyre last the full run.
Vettel and Bottas are both advised of small drops of rain, while Ricciardo is told that "heavy rain" is coming in within "the next two or three laps". Alonso gets a similar warning.
Verstappen reports an issue with his display which suggests there is an issue with his car.
Race Control reports that the track is slippers at the pitlane entry.
"We want you to box, it's not worth the risk," Verstappen is told.
Even though the rain in not that noticeable, and, as ever, only affecting one part of the track, only Magnussen and Wehrlein are on track. Finally, they too pit.
With just under half-an-hour remaining, all twenty drivers are in their garages.
With 13 minutes remaining, Ricciardo heads out on Inters. A strange move considering the fact that conditions have now seriously deteriorated. On the other hand, if we are expecting more rain over the weekend...
"I'm aquaplaning already," reports the Australian as he runs wide at Les Combes.
As Ricciardo tippy-toes around the track, Alonso also heads out.
Both drivers complete one lap before seeking the sanctuary of their respective garages.
With no further running, the session finally ends, with Hamilton quickest, ahead of Raikkonen, Bottas, Verstappen, Vettel, Ricciardo, Hulkenberg, Ocon, Sainz and Palmer.
Alonso is eleventh, ahead of Perez, Grosjean, Vandoorne, Kvyat, Magnussen, Stroll, Ericsson, Wehrlein and Massa.
Check out our Friday gallery from Spa, here.