Belgian F1 Grand Prix 2016 Qualifying: Results, Times from Friday's Practice

Max Verstappen was fastest in second practice on Friday at the Formula One Belgian Grand Prix, edging out fellow Red Bull driver Daniel Ricciardo.

The 18-year-old posted the fastest time of the day on the supersoft tyre ahead of his team-mate; Force India's Nico Hulkenberg finished third. Mercedes pair Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton focused on long runs in the afternoon, posting the sixth and 13th quickest times, respectively.

Earlier in the day, Rosberg topped the standings in the first practice session, comfortably ahead of his team-mate on the quickest tyre compound.

It has also been confirmed Hamilton will serve a 30-place grid penalty in Sunday’s race after he was fitted with a new engine, per Sky Sports. The world champion will therefore start at the back of the grid.

Here’s a recap of the action so far from Belgium and the times posted by the drivers in practice.

FP2 Recap

Here is a look at how things shape up following the second practice session of the day courtesy of the Formula 1 Twitter feed:

With plenty of fans making the short trip from the Netherlands to Belgium for Friday’s practice session, Red Bull’s Verstappen was a popular man at Spa.

Indeed, the teenager has won plenty of admirers this season with some exceptional drives, and so close to home, he seemed keen to make the running in the afternoon stint. He did exactly that on the supersoft tyres, jumping ahead of his team-mate Ricciardo to post one minute and 48.085 seconds.

Needless to say, that prompted quite a cheer from the Spa crowd. However, as noted by Autosport Live, there were some difficult spells for the youngster in the afternoon:

He wasn’t the only driver making his feelings known on the day either. Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel is never one to hide his angst, and he was far from happy with some troublesome traffic in FP2:

Verstappen’s time wasn’t challenged by the Mercedes duo in the session, and Rosberg was only able to post 1:48.348 in the morning on the same compound. However, in the afternoon, the Silver Arrows focused on their longer runs.

That was especially important for Hamilton, who will have to look after his tyres on Sunday starting at the very back of the grid. Rosberg, meanwhile, was still flexing his muscles in the middle portion of the track despite only donning the medium compound:

Final practice and qualifying will be fascinating on Saturday. There won't be an onus on Hamilton to push hard given the sanctions he'll be facing come race day, while the Red Bull duo seem to be capable of matching Rosberg on the supersoft tyre.

The German needs to show his best and secure pole position in Belgium; a win here for him could alter the momentum of this gripping world-championship battle.

FP1 Recap

The F1 Twitter feed provided the final standings from the session, with Rosberg posting the quickest lap of the morning at Spa:

While much of the talk early in the day surrounded the penalty picked up by Hamilton, there was plenty to catch the attention out on the track as the drivers’ summer break ended.

There was a new face on view, too. For Manor, 19-year-old Esteban Ocon replaced Rio Haryanto and will battle with Pascal Wehrlein for the remainder of the season.

The teenager’s first session in Formula 1 ended with a respectable 16th-place finish on the leaderboard, although he did have one embarrassing moment when knocking over a cone coming into the pit lane, per F1 Series:

Some of the drivers opted to test out some new features, too. Per the F1 Twitter feed, Red Bull’s Ricciardo donned the halo technology during FP1:

As the session settled down, focus shifted to the times being set by the contenders for the top spots.

This weekend is a significant one for Rosberg, who has a brilliant chance to cut down the 19-point advantage Hamilton carved out over him prior to the break. The German, also donning the halo, seemed intent to lay down a marker and set a scintillating 1:48.348 on the supersoft tyre compound.

The Mercedes team seemed pretty pleased with that effort:

It was a time the chasers found tough to get close to. Hamilton, for whom qualifying will not be quite so significant this weekend, made his way around the iconic circuit 0.730 seconds down on his rival, with Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen a tenth further back in his Ferrari.

Mark Thompson/Getty Images

One area of concern for Rosberg will be a potential issue with the clutch while he practised his start. “It was unusual how quickly the clutch fully closed,” he told his team, per BBC Sport.

Elsewhere, despite an engine upgrade ahead of the weekend, McLaren man Fernando Alonso had a morning to forget. Work on his car meant the two-time world champion didn’t set a time in FP1.