The Belgian Grand Prix - Practice 2 Formula 1

Hello, welcome to spark. It is a fabulous circuit that never

disappoints. Just over my shoulder, the wonderful on Rouge, which sorts

out the men from the boys. I don't think there is a driver in any

series he would not say it is one of the most iconic places

series he would not say it is one of the world. We have three practice

races this morning. Nico Rosberg topped the time sheets.

Him and his team-mate have topped the time sheets in the last 13

practice sessions we have had. We've also seen some incredible battles in

the Grand Prix, in the first half of the season. That is why there are

only 11 points between the two at the top of the Drivers'

Championship. Clarkson and Jenny. A busy morning

this morning, some teams happy, others less so. Problems for Red

Bull, particularly with Sebastian Vettel's car.

Bull, particularly with Sebastian There's nothing you don't know, is

there? We are There's nothing you don't know, is

change for There's nothing you don't know, is

reported and exhaust problem. They are replacing that unit. The

reported and exhaust problem. They for the team is three and a half

reported and exhaust problem. They hours, so he's going nowhere this

afternoon. Very busy for him. A disappointing start for this track.

With all of the fast corners, it is all about confidence and he will

have the least lapse of anyone prior to qualifying. Disappointment is

rife in the pit lane. We heard Max Chilton is not going to be racing

this weekend. Rossi will take his place. He got into the car this

morning, and a few moments before he was told that Max Chilton will be at

in the car and will race here this weekend. It's been a real

roller-coaster for Alexander Rossi over the last 24 hours. He only

joined Marussia a few weeks ago. He is licking his wounds a little bit,

but he's doing what he can to help the team. You can look forward to

Max Chilton getting another taste of Formula One.

First day back at school, already a couple of disappointed drivers. You

can get involved in this afternoon's programme. You can

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A beautiful, sunny day at Spa. It can be sunny and one part of the

circuit, wet summer else. There is a large black cloud just over there.

Yes, it's one of the largest circuits of the calendar year. Very

fast and flowing. It follows the contours of the land. That is one of

the things every driver loves, and attacking kind of circuit. Spa

definitely gives you that. A lot of talking points going into this

session. We know there has been quite a lot of driver changes going

on, as we were hearing. Andre Lotterer for Caterham, this weekend.

Kobayashi is working on the simulator this weekend, so he's not

in booted out. Tell us about Andre Lotterer. He's a team-mate of yours,

in your very successful Audi sports car days. He's a big, chunky, fast

German, why has it taken him until the age of 32 to get a Formula One

break? He was one of the young Jaguar drivers, from the formula

three programme. But that was in the early 2000s. Thought he would maybe

get his chance with Jaguar Formula One. But that team ceased to exist.

Firmly enough, it came Red Bull. So, his early career kind of dribbled

away. He went to Japan, he came back to Europe racing with Audi. Very,

very fast. Extremely determined. An extremely good technical

understanding of very complex cars. Racing high-powered cars, with a big

hybrid system, you can understand Racing high-powered cars, with a big

the technical at -- technicalities of it. Along with his experience

from the boss at Qatar Open, why he was placed in. He may be German, but

he was brought up in Belgium, not far from here. This is kind of like

a home Grand Prix. He's done over 4000 kilometres of driving, in

various different things, around this Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps

circuit. If Sebastian Vettel didn't have bad luck, it would seem, he

would have no luck at all. The Australian Grand Prix, Monaco, as

well. On the right of your screen, Max Verstappen, a 16-year-old,

announced for next season. His father is next to him. Look how

young that boy is, 16, 1017 next month. What do you say? If you are

good enough, you are old enough, but surely there has to be a floor on

that? Being in the public eye might be the hardest thing. He's had a

tremendously good run, considering it's his first year in car racing.

His team-mate in 2015, Kvyat, he did a similar thing. We have to say that

Max Verstappen's results have been a bit better. But then Kvyat was a bit

older and was more able to handle the other aspects of Formula One

that sometimes get on the shoulders of young drivers. He's a European

cart champion, a big thing to win in the world of karting. 12 months ago

he was still racing carts. That is why junior categories exist, for

young drivers to make rookie errors. Surely it is better for them to make

it in GP3? But when you have got momentum going for you, you've got

to grab those opportunities, there's a distinct possibility you'll never

get those again. It's a fickle business and we are all looking

towards the next hero coming through. Who is giving to be the

next Lewis Hamilton? Who will be the next Fernando Alonso? Red Bull are

clearly looking at the new guys to follow on from the stars that they

have in Sebastian Vettel and Danny Ricciardo at the moment. From that

point of view, I believe he had to take the chance when it was offered.

Max Chilton has gone and done a lap, having missed three practice 1 after

a contractual dispute with the Marussia team. It appears they

played hardball, the Russian owners not wanting to give them any ground.

They basically told him he was not in and Alexander Rossi would be

driving. It was announced officially and went out on the newswires. He

drove the practice session this morning. But his group of people

around him have come to an accommodation. He's back in the car.

It's not clear how long for, if it will be the rest of the season. I'm

sure that story will evolve. Coming back finally to the question of Max

Verstappen, 17 next year when he makes his debut in Australia, I

remember when you were coming through, you were a young hot shoe,

pushing for your opportunity, what age were you when you first drove a

Formula One car? 18? Would you have been ready at 17? No, I hadn't even

sat in a racing car then. But if the opportunity had presented itself at

that moment in time and I had a guarantee of a year's racing to gain

experience, without doubt, I would have taken it. I would have been as

well, if not better prepared, in a lot of ways, than I was when I made

race debut at 32. It's not all just about life and age experience, it is

the opportunities when they come to you, you have to make sure they are

the right ones. Toro Rosso have given him the assurance that it will

not just be a few races to see how you get going. He's going to have a

bit of time to be able to understand, learn and develop as a

driver. Minimum two years driving in the car, for the Grand Prix to prove

himself, and the option for another year. He will start driving in

practice sessions on Friday, year. He will start driving in

least in Austin, possibly earlier. It looks like three sessions. The

final three Grand Prix of the season in Austin. We will get to see him on

our screens, just on Friday morning in practice laps, and we'll see

where we go from there. We are looking at Magnussen on screen in

the McLaren, looking a bit more promising this weekend. In the

opening title sequence of this programme, if you are watching,

there is a shot of a Benetton car in the pits. The one that is on fire.

It is his father, Max Verstappen's father, in that car. , can shed some

light on the problems Sebastian Vettel is having. What light can you

shed on the problem is going on? Unfortunately we have

shed on the problem is going on? engine. There was an electrical

issue in the first session but has caused quite a bit of damage.

Unfortunately, the length that it takes to change these units now,

there was no chance we will be able to get the car out in the session.

Hybrid systems need changing as well? I think as a precaution, you

pretty much change all of it. All of the ancillaries and everything else

that goes on in there. It's a big shame, his luck is not going his way

in terms of getting track time. Hopefully it will be fixed by

tomorrow. One of the guys saying you are hoping to have the power unit in

all weekend. What number are you at? Was this number five? I think that

was about the fourth, to be honest. I will have to double check. We are

not taking in an extra one, hopefully. But it is still only

Friday. A quick word on how it went this morning and what you learned?

Pretty green. The long run looked pretty good at the end of the

session. Short run pace, you can see these cars will be very quickly.

Yeah, it was about what we expected, to be honest. Thank you. Christian

Horner. And while he was talking, this happened, Alan?

He starts to drive right into the wall. A problem with Alan's

microphone. It is Pastor Maldonado who have the problem coming out of

the corner, towards the sequence of corners at Pouhon. It's quite a date

accident for him, not the first one. The race

accident for him, not the first one. stop the session, because there is

quite a lot of debris. TEAM RADIO: Are you OK? TEAM RADIO: Yeah, I'm

OK. Sensible decision to bring out the

red flag, Alan? Being watched by Max Verstappen and

his father. There is a test driver for the Lotus team, as well.

his father. There is a test driver the front nose box, taking all of

the shock. The carbon fibre units taking the shock from the impact for

Pastor Maldonado. The clock is still continuing, even though the session

has been stopped. It is 2:10 in Belgium. Only ten drivers have set a

lap time, not particularly competitive at this stage. 1:52.677

is Magnussen's fastest time. Just for reference, this morning's

fastest times, Nico Rosberg did a 1:51.577. Just a fraction faster

than his team-mate, Lewis Hamilton. He did it with just nine tenths of a

second difference. Fernando Alonso is having a good session as well.

For RE have new exhaust updates, which also work with the turbo to

retain more heat in the turbocharger. It's a good step for

them, gaining well over ten horsepower, one of the reasons why

they are a little bit more competitive. The clock is still

ticking down. Romain Grosjean is in the car, watching the goings on with

his team-mate, now the Nadeau. themselves in and getting ready to

go out. He came out of the corner and then seemed to drift right into

the grass area. That dream drain area pulled him into a spin. I

haven't seen anything like that. But then again there are a few accidents

that Pastor Maldonado has had that I have not seen anything like before.

It is on the back of a recovery truck now and heading back to the

pits, as the drivers in the pit lane prepared to go out. Daniel Ricciardo

coming off the back of that fantastic victory in Hungary. I was

really impressed with his driving in Hungary, the way he went out and was

quick when he needed to be. We saw Giedo van der Garde talking to Max

Verstappen. You were out there on track. What does Spa feel like this

year? Pretty good. Although I had a bit of an issue with the power. I

lost quite a lot on the straight lines. Rouge was flat. I was quite

slow on the straight. We were trying some stuff out with wing levels, so

we have to sort it out for P2. How far have Sauber been able to come?

So far, no points at this stage of the season, it is not good enough?

We have been putting very hard -- pushing very hard. We have some

minor updates on the car and it feels a bit better. We try to keep

on pushing forward. It is not easy where we are. But we need to have

points as soon as is a. I'm sure we will get there. -- as soon as

possible. How does it feel, morale wise? OK. Everyone is pumped up.

Motivated to score as many points as possible for the second half. They

did it last year and I'm sure they can do it again this year. Giedo van

der Garde from the Sauber team. They have no points and also without any

points so far this season is Caterham. The Hungary in Grand Prix

is an anniversary they will not welcome, 50 races in Formula One

without scoring a single World Championship points so far. That was

not an ideal situation for them, no question. When they first came into

Formula One a few years ago, you felt they were the team that had the

best chance of making the leap up into the middle of the grid. But

ultimately they failed to deliver. This morning, Andre, in his first

Formula One -- first time in a Formula One car, was 21st. Andre

Lotterer did a good job this morning. He was a shade quicker than

Marcus Ericsson, who has been driving that car throughout the

season and was one of the bright lights in the GP2 car last season.

You have had a chance to look at it a few times, what conclusions are

you drawing from the Pastor Maldonado crash? Not many to be

honest. He came out of the corner and you do drift a bit left, but

then he drifted right. I'm not so sure whether maybe he was looking

down at these daring wheel, some of the functions on the steering wheel,

and got a bit distracted. Once you get onto the grass, if you go into

that reigned gully, it can spit you across as it did. The exact reason

for driving into that part of the circuit, the scenery, I'm not sure.

An hour and 15 minutes remaining on the clock in this free practice two

session. Out on the circuit is Sergio Perez from Force India, a

team you would expect to go well here, given their record here. Check

for information, tyre pressures and temperatures are low and will not be

ready for the first four temperatures are low and will not be

the next two laps to warm the tyres and the brakes. The compound for

Pirelli is soft medium. Much more aggressive, they have been a bit

cautious here in previous years. Also they had the red flag period,

they had to come back to the pits, so they would drop a bit there. The

medium tyre that we have here this year has got a similar sort of

durability as it did in 2013. They have moved the range a bit. It is a

bit risky but maybe not as risky as they have been in the past. There

were some races where was extremely risky. Generally they are on the

conservative side. Force India should go a bit better around here.

They don't necessarily generate tyre temperature very well, which will be

an issue for them in qualifying. If you compare

an issue for them in qualifying. If from the start of the season, Force

India made if you compare Williams and Force India from the start of

the season, Force India made Williams have been knocking on the

door in terms of pace of the Mercedes. Force India seem to have

stalled a bit in terms of development. They are locked in a

very tight battle with development. They are locked in a

separating them, with Force India are 98 points and McLaren are 97.

McLaren are clearly developing that car hard, so it will be difficult

for Force India to keep them at bay. They haven't necessarily gained in

any way, they have actually lost performance relative to Mercedes at

the season has gone on. Part of that is because they are a much smaller

team and they could not develop at the same rate performance as a

larger team like a Mercedes. McLaren are improving but very fractionally.

The two tend to mirror each other if you look at each race through the

course of the season. The big game in this year has been Williams, they

have made a huge leap forward from being in that gaggle in the first

few races to suddenly becoming either equal to or better than Red

Bull as the main challengers towards Mercedes. Peres is still on and out

lap. Please keep your questions coming in. Thomas O'Leary doesn't

believe in luck, Alan, and he wants to know therefore if there is

something in the way that Daniel Ricciardo drives that means that he

takes less out of the Renault power unit than his team-mate Sebastian

Vettel, who seems to have all these problems? I don't believe in luck

either. There is an element in your career when you go through that you

few technical failures in the last few years as well. The British Grand

Prix, he was first or second and he had a tingle failure. He was leading

in Valencia. That is just two off the top of my head. He has not had a

free run. What he has had is a car win the race. I think seems to be

running win the race. I think seems to be

Sebastian Vettel does not seem to have the same feel for this

Sebastian Vettel does not seem to generation of car. He has done 10%

fewer miles this season than generation of car. He has done 10%

Daniel Ricciardo. He said generation of car. He has done 10%

do anything at all, and interestingly both Massa and

Rosberg, they are superstitious, if they do well in qualifying they wear

the same pair of underpants for the race the next day! Arguably a bit

too much information! As drivers, you find these lucky things,

suddenly you get a pole position and have a dreadful race and end up

finishing in fifth place, and then it is out of the window. It is about

your mentality and what keeps your brain in the right focus level. One

man who seems to be able to get through all of that is this man,

Fernando Alonso. For him, he just seems to be able to drive out a

result whatever he has got underneath him. We probably saw that

better than any other Grand Prix in Hungary. This is a place where I

aspect him to be a bit more competitive. I would not say race

winning competitive, but the car has a bit of an understeer into these

long corners which protects the rear tyres from the traction out of the

last chicane he is going to have to come to after the flat-out

left-hander and now into the bus stop chicane. I think Ferrari will

be a bit stronger around here. Part of the function of the exhaust is to

retain more heat in the turbo and of course that heat energy in the Turbo

is part of what regenerates. He goes top, 1.51.693. He is only a 10th of

a second slower than the fastest time set this morning by Nico

Rosberg. Already the sun is glinting off the bodywork of Daniel

Ricciardo's Red Bull car. You normally get some rain

Ricciardo's Red Bull car. You in the Grand Prix weekend but we are

enjoying the sunshine when it last. We are. A final word on Ferrari,

they have a big front wing upgrade coming from Singapore -- in time for

Singapore. The big-time -- the first time you will see a big performance

gain will be Singapore for them, I think. Now they are in a battle for

Williams. Up ahead of them is this team, Red Bull. At they are a bit

vulnerable here because the one thing Red Bull do not have is

straight-line speed. And what you have on this track is two

straight-line accelerations. The fastest straight-line speed is we

have seen so far in this session, Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton,

both Mercedes powered cars. They are turning 306 mph, which is

I am here with Joss Verstappen. Very proud father indeed I imagine? Of

course, I'm very proud of max. He has too performed though.

Now you are already concentrating on what to do for the coming time, for

next year. It is good, we enjoy it. A lot is being made of his age. He

will be just 17 when he makes his debut in Melbourne. Tell us why you

think he is now ready for Formula One. When you look at Max's career

and whatever he did, in go-karts, when he made the jump to cars, how

fast he picks up things, how easy it goes to him, I think Max is very

mature for his age and he understands. I think also pressure,

you can't put pressure on Macs because he's very relaxed. -- on

Max. When did it becomes apparent to you that Formula One was an apparent

reality for 2015? I don't think it came quickly. We took our time and

we were talking with Red Bull for a long time. We thought about it

carefully together. I think we made it in the right way. We read in the

press that you perhaps even gave up your own career to manage your

son's career? Is that true? That is true. Also because I enjoyed it a

lot. I saw when Max was young that he had something special and I

wanted to get the maximum out of that. I enjoyed it as a father, to

see your son racing, to be successful. And I did everything for

him. Also the cars, I had to find sponsors to make it all happen. It

was a big challenge. I liked a challenge and I think we did it

together and that makes us very proud. Is he better than you? I

really think he is a lot better. He is complete. In some circumstances,

he can keep his head cool, and I think you are definitely a lot

better. You were 22 think you are definitely a lot

your debut and Ireland are you being fast tracked straight from Formula

Three, would you have been ready at the age of 17? I don't think I

would. But the Young Boys grow up faster, the world is moving forward

quicker and that is why I think it is possible. I do think Toro Rosso

is the right place to nurture a young talent like this? I think so,

I think he is a nice person, very driven and he is a warm person.

Already very comfortable here, I think it is the writing to start.

When I going to him driving a Formula One car for the first time?

I don't know, it is up to Red Bull and Toro Rosso to decide. I'll leave

it up to them. So, testing? Probably, that will happen soon. But

when and how come I don't know. Great stuff, Tom Clarkson, with the

father of Max Verstappen, who will make his debut at the age of 17. You

can see an interview with him tomorrow at 12:10. And there is a

podcast on the website. Good to see him on good form, a very proud

father, following in the footsteps, as Ricardo misses the apex,

following in the footsteps of Anthony and Lewis Hamilton, Jensen

and John Button, many other dads who courage cajole, encourage, arm

around the shoulder, whatever you want to call it, their son. Yes, you

just seem to get onto the kerb on the left-hand side. He just bounced

across the kerb and across the grass. The big run

across the kerb and across the you a get out of jail free card. So,

one hour and two minutes remaining. Max Chilton, getting his first laps.

He missed the first session. Jenson Button, wheeled back into the

garage. Watching him down there is Jennie. You can tell it is him

because of the bright pink helmet he has decided to wear until the end of

the season. If you look right at the back, Spa, you need as little drag

as you can possibly have. They have low downforce setup. You can sit at

the back of the wing kind of arches, that is to try to deliver

that, a little bit more speed for Jenson Button. You can see, where

the main plane curves upwards, just on the outer edge, and then if you

continue to look round the back you will see that it is a much thinner

and narrower monkey sit that goes over the exhaust. There was an

little tweaks they have done to try to get the car performing well. Just

one of the teams that have done that, quite a few of them have a

different rear wing, a couple of tweaks to try to get as little drag

on the car and getting it as fast as possible. Gutierrez is in trouble.

He has had a moment, you can tell that from the tyre marks. The car is

stationary, the yellow flag is down in that area. It is of the recovery

area on the way down to the pig. Let's see what happened. He has come

through Blanchimont. Thankfully there is a big run-off area for him.

An extremely fast corner. The Sauber is very tricky, we have seen it so

many times in high-speed corners, where it is extremely difficult and

unstable, as he comes through. The likelihood is that there is probably

a bit of reinstalling, as he is sitting there. TEAM RADIO: Can you

get back to the garage? It is the gearbox. I

Well, that would explain why it would be at that point in the

corner. It is something that is not normal. You would not be shifting at

that particular point. The red flag, because it is in a dangerous

position. If the car cannot be moved, they will have to, with some

way of getting it back. A mobile crane of some disruption. That is an

extremely dangerous place, the outside of a corner that is as fast

as that. I remember Luciana Berti getting buried in the tyre barriers

in the late 1990s, a terrifying accident during the Grand Prix. The

clock continues to tick down. I will give you the rundown. Early stages,

nobody has gone to the softer tyre. Sergio Perez was just out on it

there, when the session was red flagged. He is the first man to go

to the softer, faster tyre that will give us a more accurate read on the

qualifying performances for tomorrow. At this early stage,

Hamilton, Alonso, Rosberg third. Felipe Massa is fourth.

Daniel Ricciardo had a moment at the chicane, he is in 11th. Jean-Eric

Vergne is heartbroken for the second time in 12 months. He found out he

was not going to get the Red Bull drive of Mark Webber. Now he's found

out his career with Toro Rosso will end in Abu Dhabi. He asked to look

around and find himself under the seat if he wants to continue his

Formula One adventure. -- he has to look around and find himself another

seat. Quite eventful so far. We've only had 30 minutes, it feels like

longer. Quite a bit has gone on. What it means is that now they have

lost such an amount of time there is going to be quite a flurry of

activity to get the short runs in and then try to get the important

long runs in so they understand the tyre choices. Normally it is the

left, front tyre that takes a hammering when it is a pure

performance run. After that, the rear stability and traction goes as

well. A little bit of a balancing act. That is something that the

teams will want to do. They will have to concertina what is normally

an hour and 15 minutes work into about 50 minutes. That is a

headache. A combination of tyres, the medium and the soft, the first

time they have done that in several years. The reason they have done it

is to try to encourage more strategic thinking, more pit stops.

It looks like there will be a couple of stops on Sunday. The weather

looks like it will be relatively stable. This time is critical in

doing your homework and finding out what the best strategy is. The

sporting director of Marussia joins us from the pit wall. On this note,

it is important homework gathering time that is being lost? That's

right, it's unfortunate. But it's the same for all of the drivers.

From that point of view, it is just a challenge that all of the teams

have. It's a particular frustration for the race engineers. They will

have agreed amongst themselves a programme for the session. There

will be a lot of things they want to work through. This shortens it. They

have to think on their feet, change their priorities and focus on what

they can do in the time available. It's been an eventful free practice,

but it's been an eventful day form Ayrshire. Alex Rossi, sitting on

your right as you speak to us on the pit wall, he drove in Free Practice

1, and Max Chilton is back in the car now. Can you shed any light on

that situation? I think we are focused on moving forward. I think

it is testament to both Alex and Max that, as professional race drivers,

they take this kind of thing in their stride. You know, they need to

take the situation, get in the car and immediately switch on, perform,

whatever they are asked to do. I think it is unfortunate, when some

of these changes spill over into a race weekend. But that's just the

nature of things. I think the key thing, as I say, is that they are

both really good professional drivers. It was good for us to have

Alex in the car for the first time, it was really productive. You know,

we just have to focus on moving forward. Graham, it's Alan. Are you

now going to be stable for the rest of this year, 2014, with Max? Well,

yeah, that is certainly the plan. We were looking forward to stability

throughout the whole season. So this was a glitch that was never

planned, quite obviously. But it is our job to just deal with these

things, when they come along. That's part and parcel of Formula One. On

the racing side of things, you are not too far off Van der Garde in the

Sauber and you are well ahead of Mercedes. The guys are continuing to

do a fantastic job. Trying out a huge things here which I considered

to be proper ingenious engineering. Relatively low-cost modifications

and upgrades, with the really clever thinking behind them. From 18's

point of view, that is what Formula One should be all about. -- from the

team's point of view. Clever engineering, not just throwing money

at it. Hopefully we have come up with some good steps forward. The

final reckoning is in the race. We know that we are only just starting

this race weekend. Hopefully we will squeeze a bit more speed out of the

cars and, you know, have a good race. They have brought some

upgrades, so they will be hoping to move forward as well. Obviously

Sauber will as well. We just can't stop still in this game. We have to

keep pushing forward. I presume you will be looking at the sky is, as I

am, and seeing big black clouds. Was it last year in a difficult

qualifying when you got both cars into Q2. Saturday afternoon looks

like it could have a rain shower. Are you hoping for another Q2? It

would be nice. I believe we have got some really experienced people

involved in the team. They are all capable of holding their own, when

you see the raindrops falling sometimes that is the approach that

is needed. You have driven an awful lot of this circuit. As you know,

is needed. You have driven an awful can be raining in one area, dry in

another, it throws up all kinds of uncertainties. I like to think that

our team is capable and up to the challenge of these uncertainties.

You know, hopefully we can put on a good show for the fans and make the

most of whatever opportunities are there. If they are there, we will

try to grab them. A final thought from you, Graham. Is it too early to

try to grab them. A final thought know how the tyres are stacking up?

Pirelli having quite aggressive with soft and medium tyres. There is a

trade-off on pace and durability. It could be quite an exciting Grand

Prix, from that point of view. Is it too early to say? I think you are

right, I think it will be exciting. I think it is too early to say. This

session in particular, when you get multiple red flag periods, it makes

it more difficult. We will be doing the same as everyone else, not just

looking at our own pace and degradation from lap times, but

looking at what everyone else is doing. When you get

it makes the data more noisy. Therefore, it makes the picture a

bit more confusing. It's still too early, but we are going to be in for

a fantastic race on Sunday. Thank you very much for your time,

sporting director of the Marussia Formula One team. Let's get down to

the pit lane. The man that makes the key decisions on the young drivers,

who gets the chance and who doesn't, Helmut Marko. You had a busy summer,

the news has come out that you have signed Max Verstappen for the

programme. How pleased are you with that signing? 1 SCOTS

programme. How pleased are you with pleased. We watched him for a while.

programme. How pleased are you with -- We are very pleased. We watched

him for a while and we are very glad to have him in the tune-up

programme. You had a lot of talented young men fighting for that seat.

What made you decide on Max? Going from go karts,

What made you decide on Max? Going Formula Three, and being immediately

competitive, that was one thing. But then there have been some races were

it was wet or partly wet and he was two seconds quicker than all of the

rest of them. two seconds quicker than all of the

said we have to get this guy. Did you have two fight Toto Wolff

for him? We didn't have to go Did you have two fight Toto Wolff

way. We know what young drivers can achieve. It was an important

decision for him. achieve. It was an important

do with money or whatsoever. What are your hopes for him? Is it a

long-term deal that you can see him growing, as a 17-year-old, when he

started so young? He is a young age but he has been racing since he was

four years old, so he has a lot of experience. He will do well at Toro

Rosso. I think we will see a similar performance from him and he will be

immediately competitive. Helmut Marko there, one of the senior

figures at Red Bull and Toro Rosso, a man who makes key decisions on who

goes where and who gets promoted and giving the young guys their

opportunities. Meanwhile we're hearing that Jenson Button has gone

fastest on the softer compound tyres. He is ahead of his team-mate,

an 1.51.0. Hamilton is third on a tiny set earlier on on the medium

tyres, he is in the pit lane and thinking about going out and doing

the qualifying simulation himself in the near future. Adrian Sutil has

just done a time of 1.51.84, which is good enough for fourth place.

Fernando Alonso is currently fifth, 1.51.6. We have to change another

bit of the car. Kimi Raikkonen's engineer there. He has been having

problems with the power units throughout the day. Nico Hulkenberg

at the double apex left-hander. That must feel fantastic, to drive a race

car at speed with low fuel and grippy tyres around the corner. It

is one of the keys of the circuit. Once you get into the first apex,

the rest of the circuit should in theory be done. Getting to the

turning point which should be critical, to carry enough speed

without too much understeer or to have the rear tyre loose on entry,

it is a balancing act. -- to have the rear loose an entry. You have to

have confidence in the rear holding. The new bus stop, it is really

tricky. It is difficult for the tyres to accelerate out over the

line. And then you have another corner where you need really good

grip, straight after it. There is time to be lost in the lower speed

corners. The entry point, 170 mph on the way into the first left-hander

through there, as Hulken attacks Eau Rouge. Kvyat has been using the

softer compound tyres. A fraction of a second slower than

softer compound tyres. A fraction of it will be competitive in qualifying

for the top ten positions, with Toro Rossos challenging. This looks like

another circuit where they could challenge. The fastest speed in a

straight line for anybody so far surprisingly perhaps, Daniel

Ricciardo, in the Red Bull, 309 K P H for them. Last year they played a

great tactic in the decision, do you have faster downforce but give away

a bit in the middle sector? Mercedes went that way and Red Bull went the

opposite way. Although Hamilton was on pole, Sebastian Vettel was able

to pass him quickly. 45 minutes remaining on the clock and Tom

Clarkson is down with an interview. He said the second sector is going

to be good for us. He said we will need a bit of aero. Hence he is a

little quicker in the straight line, Daniel Ricciardo. You have got more

stability in that car anyway, so therefore they can take a bit of.

They have run very lean in these circuits. They are not exactly quick

in a straight line. They are doing everything to be in the race. As

Valtteri Bottas goes second. In reality though, I think they've just

feel they have got to be in the race to fight. If they are stuck behind

they are never going to overtake if they are slow in a straight line.

Nico Rosberg 170 mph, nice and wide going into the chicane. Through

here, down to about 110 mph before that turning and then into the long

right-hander. 100 mph, that turning and then into the long

steadily through the speed, 140, 170 mph. The rear end is all over the

place. The rear end is all over the place, says Grosjean. This is where

Gutierrez lost it. No problems for was Berg, he thrashes through at

over 200 mph. He then gets down to 50 mph. Less than 100 metres of

braking. That is the fastest time of the day by almost a second, from

Nico Rosberg. Not as much as some people were thinking, the margin

between Rosberg Andy McLaren of Jenson Button. Now we will see what

Lewis Hamilton can do. Not the fastest sector of the day, that

belongs to Jenson Button. He has gone quickest by nearly a second but

it was only in the final sector where he was quickest. The first

sector he was behind Button, the second sector he was behind Daniil

Kvyat who was quickest. He was still keeping flat out. Hamilton still in

this long middle sector and he has gone fastest, four tenths of a

second fastest in the middle sector than Kvyat. He will be wanting to

replicate this tomorrow in qualifying. He had a few mistakes

thrown in as well, meaning he has not been fully or quite some time in

qualifying. He looks aggressive, he looks like he is well and truly up

for it this weekend. Lewis Hamilton comes out of the bus stop chicane

and crosses the line in 1.49.189. Six tenths of a second, the margin.

Cracking lap. Clearly Six tenths of a second, the margin.

lap. The margin is a little Six tenths of a second, the margin.

than Rosberg. He was equal in the first sector but now sector to an

sector three are now Lewis Hamilton's sectors. He can be quick

in every part whereas most of the other teams are going to be quick in

one part of the circuit and then dropped off on the other. Fernando

Alonso into the right-hander and then starts to go to the power. He

is third but still within seven tenths and ill in the game because

he is ahead of the Williams. That is crucial for them, a big battle

between Williams and Ferrari in the Constructors' Championship. -- still

ahead. He gets ahead of Felipe Massa, crucially. He popped up into

fourth place. Now the order is Hamilton from Rosberg by six tenths

of a second, then Alonso, Massa in fourth, Button in fifth place,

Bottas, then Kvyat, Magnussen, Hulken. Kimi Raikkonen is yet to do

a tyre simulation. Pastor Maldonado was the other driver who stopped the

session early on with an accident on the rundown towards the corner.

Those two will not be taking any further part in the session. Lotus

mechanics still have a lot of work to do. More work to do an Daniel

Ricciardo's car coming here is the anyone who has not ready shown his

hand yet. They appear to be working on the front brake. That is an

important factor because you have to get the build-up of temperature

correct and keep the residual temperature correct. As you come

correct and keep the residual into the bus stop chicane, you

correct and keep the residual to have that sort of fuelling. Front

braking is very important and it also keeps temperature in the tyre.

You can see on the thermal imaging camera how the tyre temperature

drops of going down the straights and then immediately reacts when you

hit the brakes. That is Sebastian Vettel's car and he is taking

hit the brakes. That is Sebastian part in the session. Problems

hit the brakes. That is Sebastian the power unit. Christian Horner was

not specific on which unit the power unit. Christian Horner was

put in at the start of the session. Going into this event, Vettel had

already used for power units over the course of his first 11 races

compared to the three that both the Mercedes drivers had used.

compared to the three that both the has had the lion 's

compared to the three that both the problems. Unit

compared to the three that both the needed, if that wasn't already it.

If he's going to be using the unit anyway... One of the speed sensors

has failed, which is why the up shifts are being good and bad. We

will fix it tonight. Valtteri Bottas, the up shifts, it is when

the driver pulls the pedal and sages gear, if it is not so to -- and

changes gear, if it is not totally synchronised, you can get a bit of a

jolt, which then means that the speed and acceleration down the

straight reduces, and you are very sensitive to that. One of the speed

sensors will have got one of the wheels, and that is part of the

calculation process. The calculation of the systems isn't working at 100%

but obviously they can't change that. It shows a huge part of a

racing driver's Arsenal, coping. Max Verstappen will have to cope to

Formula One but a big part of that is coping, coping with all kinds of

setbacks, difficulties, handling imbalances, up and down shifts that

don't quite work, being able to cope with those

don't quite work, being able to cope performance is one of the crucial

aspects of defining a great racing driver. It certainly will be. Going

from maximum race length being 40 minutes to one hour and 50 minutes

at somewhere like Monaco. The way it changes over eight Grand Prix

weekend, or how your brakes suddenly start fading towards the end of the

Canadian Grand Prix with the big stops, or some of these other

factors. That is part of your experience. If you

factors. That is part of your clever driver, you have to adapt any

way, to the conditions. I witnessed exactly the same at Nurburgring, the

last Formula Three championship race, which was difficult

conditions, and he was exemplary there as well. Jenson Button is out

on long runs. We will be evaluating these long runs, that is

on long runs. We will be evaluating story of free practice two, we get

the lower fuel, not completely low fuel but lower fuel qualifying

simulations that give us our headline lap times for the day. The

drivers go in and put fuel and simulate the early stages of a Grand

Prix, perhaps even the later stages of a Grand Prix. Sometimes teams

compare and contrast how the drivers are doing two different

compare and contrast how the drivers they have got more data to compare.

This is certainly important, doing their homework. As Graham was

telling us from the pit wall, the selection of tyres at the weekend,

there are a lot of different strategic options and a lot of ways

to slice the cake, making sure you have got good data at this stage in

the 35mm remaining in this practice two session, absolutely critical. --

35mm remaining. Let's rattle through a few of your questions, because

there have been quite a few, before we see Daniel Ricciardo's lap. Adam

Rose Ince and says, will Ferrari be expecting Kimi Raikkonen to be up

with Alonso this weekend due to his success previously? Four wins at

Spa' and Kimi Raikkonen has won four

times. Sometimes you get circuits where the driver just clicks. Button

Jenson definitely does work at this type of circuit. He comes through

Eau Rouge, and the bottom of the car just skidding on the compression.

Here is a guy that has done quite well here. They need it for the

constructors' title points. Ben Thatcher is asking, how many years

do you think Alonso has in Formula One? He's 33, he had his birthday

around the time of the German Grand Prix. He's talking to Ferrari about

an extension of his contract. Those talks are dragging on. I think we

will see him for at least another two years on that contract. He is

looking around to see if there are any other options. McLaren have had

made no secret of the fact they would like to have him back. Whether

he could work with Ron Dennis again is a moot point. He wants another

World Championship, basically. His goal in life is to be a three times

champion. The Le Mans 24 hours, he has a passion for it, he wants to do

that race, but he has two already in his pocket. But they were a long

time ago. He wants to prove that he is still number-1. Even to himself,

more than anything else. Ricciardo has been the fastest man

through the speed trap. He's not gone quicker on this lap through

through the speed trap. He's not speed trap, maybe he's added a bit

of downforce. We haven't got the speed trap time. How is the lap

looking? He is not fastest in sector one. He is half a second slower than

the benchmark of Jenson Button. He would be, that a long drag up the

hill and then the straight line deficit of Renault, historically

that would not help him. It's not necessarily the top speed. It is the

acceleration. Now it is a neat and tidy centre section. It is easy to

run wide. Then you get onto the Astroturf on the outside. He has

dropped a little bit more time in the middle sector. This is not a

strong lap by Daniel Riccardo. His middle sector was not near the

fastest we have seen. The fastest we have seen us by Nico

Hulkenberg, at a different point on the circuit, Button at well over 200

mph. Not a particularly spectacular lap. And nothing to compare it to in

terms of his team-mates, Sebastian Vettel not taking part after a

problem with his power unit. 211 mph, the fastest speed we have seen

so far, from Hulkenberg. Let's look at this moment. He kisses the inside

of the curve. It's an inverse camber. The rear slides as he goes

on to the power at that same point. He's got a bit of an oversteer. That

was a little bit of a loss, where he seemed to lose through the corner,

sorry, through the lap, in eighth place. What

So, with just over 30 minutes remaining on the clock, we're

getting into the long run is part of the session. Hamilton and Rosberg

have both gone out on circuit. One car that has improved over the last

few Grand Prix, the German Grand Prix, when the front and rear

independent suspension system was effectively banned, it was the

Sauber. Adrian Sutil is up there in 12. But he's pretty close to

Jean-Eric Vergne. He's also pretty close to Hulkenberg. That is

something that is going to be a concern for Marussia. They were

probably one of the teams that made the biggest step forward when that

and came into place. the biggest step forward when that

there were struggling to get out the first part of qualifying. Now Sutil

is solidly into Q2. 30 minutes remaining on the clock. Let's check

in with Tom Clarkson. Busy times down here. Just hearing Alan talking

about suspension, perfect timing. The rear bodywork both of the cars

here. They are changing the ride height on the cards. Alan, you can

tell us more about this, you start high, say what you can get away with

and bring it down to get more grip? To be honest, I'd go the other way.

See if you are too low, then raise it up if you need to, rather than

starting high and going down. The problem is, it's predicting how much

you are going to rub. You know the bottom of the car is going to rub in

the compression, it just does, at Eau Rouge. If you have it so that it

doesn't, you are far too high, the car is rolling around and you don't

have any control over it. The other thing is, it is just slow, doesn't

stability. You start slow and move stability. You start slow and move

stiffen up the spring and damper, stability. You start slow and move

nations to keep the balance in a better way for the aerodynamic. --

spring and damper combinations. Jennie Gow was watching the cars at

Eau Rouge this morning. Yeah, it was brilliant! I got to go down and look

at all of the cars, absolutely right, as Alan

at all of the cars, absolutely tell from the set up

at all of the cars, absolutely you. The Marussia! And the McLaren,

the plank scrapes along the tarmac, it turns out blue smoke. The

Marussias and the McLarens were doing it a lot. Someone like

Mercedes, they were fine through though. The different cars, set up

so differently. Hamilton seems to have stopped. Is he doing a practice

start? No, he's stopped? The pit lane at the previous point, it's too

narrow. This is the safest place where Lewis Hamilton can do a

practice start. He now accelerates down to Eau Rouge. Just when Jenny

was talking about Eau Rouge, the compression at the bottom of the

hill, the ride height for the car is set by... TEAM RADIO: Any feedback

on the start? Far too aggressive on the initial, with the clutch... Copy

that. Too aggressive, too much power. With the hard rear tyre

coming straight out of the pit, but downhill area, it is not

representative of the slight uphill they will have on Sunday afternoon.

Without doubt, you don't want to get initial wheel spin. You want to use

the engine and then you want full throttle. He has painful memories of

last year, having qualified in pole position, he lost the initiative to

Sebastian Vettel. Nine kilometres per hour slower than Daniel

Riccardo. Normally, the speed trap is the fastest you will see on the

circuit. Here, they put it on Eau Rouge. That is why it is not as

quick as the outright crispest time, the quicker speed, I should say,

which is at the end of the long straight, just before the breaking

point for the chicane. So, an unusual situation, but that is why

you get to map readings. It's important you are fast through Eau

Rouge, so you are not that much slower than the fastest cars,

especially the people you are going to be around. If you are, the

acceleration you have done is kind of wasted,

acceleration you have done is kind momentum. That could be the hybrid

boost, coming out of La Source. Also, the other thing is, it just

means the straight is not just one big long straight, of wide-open

throttle, it is just two separate sections. Looking at the correlation

between the times, Ricardo is through the Eau Rouge section, but

Button is second-fastest through both? McLaren seems to be quite

efficient, working quite well. Giving away a little bit in the

middle sector, but I reckon there is enough there if they can build on

this to challenge, certainly for fifth or sixth place, somewhere

around there? Button is quickest of anybody through that first section,

which runs up to the end of the straight at Pouhon. They are good at

the first part of it and they drop off in the second and third bit. I'm

not sure if they are going to be strong enough for the second row of

the grid. The third row will probably be pretty good, but they

will be in the top ten, I'm pretty sure. Ferrari don't look too bad

either. Alonso is third fastest again in the qualifying runs. Jenson

Button, a lock-up. The bright pink crash helmet is eye-catching. For

all it is a tribute to his father, the video footage of it, how it sits

next to the silver bodywork, he likes the look of that and he's

going to continue with that. Magnussen, also a son of a driver.

Is this starting to make you Magnussen, also a son of a driver.

old? These were your contemporaries. Your son is a bit

old? These were your contemporaries. One? He's nine years old, doesn't

have much desire to sit in anything that is going to be racing. He's

more interested in seeing how they are built and engineered. You're not

going to push him into Formula One? It would only be seven years time,

ridiculous expat he's pushed Jenson Button pretty strongly through the

course so far. Magnussen, I think, has acquitted himself pretty well

this season. If you look at the pair of them, they have been a bit

patchy, places like China and Barcelona, they were not good.

Magnussen has had very good results, the better of the

qualifying performances. That is a positive sign, I think, for a young

driver. If he can be consistently fifth, sixth or seventh, on the days

where the car has some pace, Button has been a bit more uneven in his

qualifying performance. 22 minutes remaining on the clock. Mercifully

staying dry. Still have some sunshine here at Spa. There is a

chance of some rain for qualifying tomorrow. Wet qualifying last year,

if you remember. The fastest time was had by Lewis Hamilton. Here

comes Hulkenberg. The fastest man at the end of the straight. A hairy

moment for the German? He came through Eau Rouge. The car bellies

out, and then the rear comes round. He had to get off the throttle. It's

at the moment when you are trying to keep it on the road or you are into

something much more frightening. You know, that will have made his heart

skipped a couple beats. And he continues on the lap. This is where

Pastor Maldonado crashed, bringing out the red flag just after this

left-hander, here. Sounds like Hulkenberg has missed the apex. This

is where Maldonado crashed, bringing the session to a red flag. We have

had two, if you are just joining us for the Belgian Grand Prix practice.

The second one was brought out by Esteban Gutierrez, spinning the

Sauber on the Exeter or the next corner coming up. A bit further on,

in fact, the Blanchimont corner. That brought out the second red

flag. Here is Hulkenberg, on his way back towards the pits. I would

expect Force India to be strong around here. They have been a little

bit better this morning. They are 10th and 13th at the moment. But

they have dropped off in the last few races. I think this

characteristic will suit them. It doesn't matter what the name of the

team was, even going back to the Grand Prix, this is a circuit where

the car seemed to work, for whatever reason, in fundamental -based

design. They will be looking to try to make

sure that they race pace is dictated by their tyre drop off, or less tyre

drop-off than anybody else. I think this has been in's run is going to

give us an indication how it is going to be on Sunday. Looking at

some of the runs we can see so far. Jenson Button, having put in a

strong qualifying some elation, fifth fastest. He is on a long run

at the moment on a soft tyre. He has been rapping in the high one-minute

55, 256. Fairly consistent lap times for Jenson Button.

Have his lap times are in the high 54s. A fast lap time, pretty much

the story of the season. Relative to Mercedes, McLaren don't look

particularly stronger. But they do look stronger relative to some of

the opposition. Quicker than Force India, no doubt about that. I think

they are looking at the Williams team will stop that is the team they

will be looking at. Let's rejoin Tom Clarkson. James, I am with Toto

-- Niki Lauda. They are one and two catch up with Nicky

-- Niki Lauda. They are one and two this afternoon, the Mercedes. Let's

see if we can get Toto's thoughts. It is going well so far this

afternoon? Yes, for a Friday it is going well. What are you learning?

afternoon? Yes, for a Friday it is How are the track conditions, how is

the car performing? The car is performing well. It was pretty

slippy this morning. What is important is to see that the order

has not completely changed over the summer break, but then it is early

days, it is Friday afternoon, so you have to be careful. How did the two

red flags this afternoon disrupt your programme? Well, it disrupts

everybody's programme. You have to cut the option runs short and the

long run as well, but it is the same for everybody. Hungary seems like a

long time ago but there was controversy regarding team orders,

howdy do you deal with that situation in the four weeks since

then? It needs a bit of mediating, a bit of management, a bit of

caressing, a bit of hard words. But both of the guys know that it is

going to be both of the guys know that it is

got to fighters from the same team fighting for a World Championship,

you cannot expect it to run super smoothly because these guys are so

competitive and that is why they are Formula One drivers. You will not be

asking one of them to let the other ones to -- the other one through in

future races? I think we would do exactly the same thing again, and

any other team would. If your team made is behind you, you don't want

to make his life difficult, and you're not going to block him. On

the other side you cannot expect the guy in front to lift off the break.

So probably the communication to Nico was a bit wrong, saying he's

going to let you buy, the right words should have been he's not

going to make your life difficult, you overtake him, and this is how we

want to do it next time. But we are learning on the job, all of us. You

had to number one drivers in the teams fighting fair and square. --

two number one drivers. We are very optimistic. And this is why

Tippex... If you think that situation would raise its head

again, do you think Lewis Hamilton would not make Nico Rosberg's life

difficult and would let him through? Yes, I think it is absolutely clear,

when Nico pitted he was two places ahead and he came out of the stop

and this is how Lewis understood it, he was never really close enough.

You can't ruin one's race. They are asking him to lose a couple of

hundred meters, so this is why the reaction was understandable. It is a

matter of the words being used, not about the general principle. That is

how you have been dealing with about the general principle. That is

drivers but how are you yourself? How is the arm? It is getting

better. Somebody told me it makes no sense to complain, so I'm feeling

fine! You are still on the painkillers? Now I can't on the

weekends! Note painkillers this weekend. Toto Wolff with a very

clear explanation in terms of the drivers and what they will be

expected to do. Now we know drivers and what they will be

what would happen if you had a situation when one driver was on a

three-stop strategy. Half a 10th faster than Nico last lap. That was

between Hamilton and Rosberg. That is very helpful from Toto Wolff, who

always tries hard to say as much as he can to help the media and public

understand what is going on behind the scenes. Obviously there are a

lot of firewalls and things he can't say, but that was pretty helpful? I

think we had to try to understand what went on. They are going to get

another Saint similar situation at some point through the course of the

run-in. It is a very difficult situation for them because as

Mercedes-Benz they were looking at a potential race victory slipping

away, but ultimately they did not want to get involved too much in one

or the other driver in terms of the way the race was going to come out,

so they had the kayak quandary in there.

It is the understanding and the expectations of

It is the understanding and the they have to be quite clear of that.

They have to make it very much understood right now. But it did

blow over a little bit in Hungary. It is also worth remembering

specifically with reference to Hungary, what he was saying was

don't necessarily make Rosberg's life difficult but it is up to

Rosberg to pass him. Let's not forget that Rosberg struggled to

Bass Jean-Eric Vergne, which is one of the reasons he found himself in

the situation of doing more stops than Hamilton. When Hamilton needed

to Bass Jean-Eric Vergne, he did it straight away. -- to pass Jean-Eric

Vergne. We can learn the difference in characters between the drivers

from that. Hamilton aggressive and risky, Rosberg playing the

percentages. With the safety car coming out at the beginning, he was

already past the entry when the safety car came out so he had to

trundle back, and then Lewis Hamilton had three get out of jail

free cards, he spun on the opening lap and then he had the safety car

and then he had Sebastian Vettel spin in front of him, which gifted

him the opportunity of a free circuit. There were a lot of things

that seemed to run in Lewis Hamilton's favour for once, because

on Saturday he had the fire in qualifying that made him start from

the pit lane. You have two sees the chances when they come up and that

is what Hamilton did with that Jean-Eric Vergne overtake and that

is what gave him the chance to go on and finish at his team-mate. Lewis

Hamilton's car bottoms out there, the plank hitting the ground through

Eau Rouge. The ride height for this circuit of the cars is set by what

will happen at the bottom of the compression of the hill at Eau

Rouge. That compression will decide how much you can run your car to the

ground. What they try and do now is to run the car as low as possible to

get the best aerodynamics. Every circuit you try to run it low and

stiff to make sure that the Aero is working to its maximum effect and

that you are in the right window for the aerodynamics. There is a minimum

regulation of what you're allowed to have on the skip lock at the end and

on the plank at the end of the race. You can't just run it out so it

wears out, you have to... 11 minutes remaining in this free practice two

qualifying simulation session. We're now into the long runs and the

headline lap times, Hamilton now into the long runs and the

fastest. This is the long runs of Lewis Hamilton on the soft tyres at

the moment. Expected to start the Grand Prix on these tyres on Sunday.

Consistency around 1.54. A couple of 1.56s as well, as outliers if you

like. The pace is certainly there from Mercedes. Both drivers able to

lap in the 1.54, to 1.55 low range. Rosberg had a couple of moments on

his qualifying simulation, which is why he is six tenths of a second

slower in the headline lap times than his team-mate. Alonso third,

Mass in fourth, Button in fifth place,

Lewis Hamilton with a pretty quick lap time. The one person who has

just gone out on the softer tyres is Kimi Raikkonen. We saw him as he

went out to start his long run. He has not done so many laps of these

15 laps so far, down in 15th place. It is to see how the tyre will

evolve over the next three to four laps, that will give us an idea of

Ferrari's pace. Rosberg more consistent. Hamilton has some 1.56s

mixed in with the 1.54s, but if you added it all up, you would probably

find that Hamilton was a shade faster, as his engineer was saying.

Very little in it, as there has been throughout the season. One driver

doing very well throughout the season. One driver

Felipe Massa in the Williams, lapping in the low 1.54s. He has

managed to get a last lap since lapping in the low 1.54s. He has

then. Keep an eye on the Williams. For information, fire temperatures

are dropping, so in traffic you may find that the cars lose grip. Nico

Rosberg being told that the temperatures are dropping. Did you

see how close his right-hand wheels were to the old pit wall? You're

looking left that that particular point and lining the car up, so you

have to have a feel for an judgement of way your right-hand wheels are.

The tyre temperatures are dropping and he is doing a longer run and

there is less depth left on the tyre, less rubber. That means that

the heat that is residual into it can dissipate into the atmosphere on

these big long runs down through Eau Rouge and up towards the corner and

although it back to the stop. That means that it is trickier to keep

the tyre temperature and the braking performance and the consistency of

braking performance. pass him easily at this point.

Dropping back to 127 K P H, that is what he was doing on that straight.

He has just left the what he was doing on that straight.

away from him. This morning when Alexander

away from him. This morning when Marussia in place of Max Chilton,

that idea seems to have ended Marussia in place of Max Chilton,

Chilton getting back in the car, you had Rossi in one and PNG in the

other, which is red and white. had Rossi in one and PNG in the

and Jules Bianchi in the other. But Rossi is actually American and Jules

Bianchi is French! So it never really quite worked out in the

Italian way as well. Three very Italian surnames in the

Italian way as well. Three very none of them sadly Italian, no

Italian Grand Prix drivers none of them sadly Italian, no

field at the moment. Daniel Ricciardo is eight on

field at the moment. Daniel lap times. How is the Red Bull

driver doing? In the high 1.54s. Slightly quicker than the Williams

cars. Felipe Massa just did a 1.55.1. Oh! That is just using all

the road and a little 1.55.1. Oh! That is just using all

to him. The person who started doing his long run now is Kimi Raikkonen.

Now he is on a 53.702. The front tyre has probably dropped off a bit

for that one second gap. He's not able to continue it. Raikkonen has

done a 59. He is coming straight into the pits. It was a short run

from Raikkonen, hence the shorter lap time, to

from Raikkonen, hence the shorter bursts. There is work being done to

the diffuser of the Red Bull car. Essentially free practice one and

two on a Friday is a bit like a test session, you can strap different

bits of equipment to your car and get an idea of the flow structures

aerodynamics are you that you're getting with your parts and

The teams constantly innovating and is

The teams the four-week period, before and

after the shutdown. Some of them take the shutdown period closer to

this Grand Prix. Valtteri Bottas is one of the real stars of this 2014

championship, him and Kvyat. How is his long run doing? He is carrying a

fair bit of fuel and also running slower tyres. That would make a

difference in terms of race performance, you would think. The

medium tyre looks to be a bit slower than the soft tyre here. The thing

is getting a consistency of it. If you can do that, it will be a

is getting a consistency of it. If point in the race. That's like every

single circuit now. You're going to get a soft tyre with more

performance, a medium tyre with more stability. What is Felipe Massa

doing? His lap time has dropped off. It's now at the one-minute 56s. He

is lapping at the same pace as Bottas was. There will be some

interesting crossovers. Unfortunately, here, we're working

things out on the back of an envelope. It is not going to be as

easy. The softer tyre is quicker, but there will be a point where the

medium is quicker? 14 laps equals a two stop strategy. Whichever way

they turn it. It will depend on whether, but I think it will be two

stop. It also depends how long the medium tyres last. One of the things

we have seen in the past is a long safety car, like we had after the

Grosjean start line shunt. The safety car was out for a long time

and that meant one or two people, including Jenson Button, could make

the race with 1-stop because it takes so much less out of the tyres.

There will be people, if we get an 80% safety car of ability around

There will be people, if we get an this racetrack, who will think about

gambling and make one less stop, especially if the medium tyre stacks

up to be something that is working well. We don't have the data of who

has done what on which tyre. Hulkenberg has done 21 on it. That

is the information we are getting. Hulkenberg doing 21 laps out of a

set of medium tyres. Force India have always been the team that would

lay that a long ball strategy. He struggled in qualifying, to get the

maximum peak grip out. But they do have the longevity. That has served

them very well in the past. I would suspect out here they will be a

little bit more competitive. Top ten competitive. If they could get 2122

laps out of it, that is 36, 37 laps. If you have a five, six, seven laps

safety car, you could do it in 1-stop, if you thought it was

competitive. Jean-Eric Vergne just 1-stop, if you thought it was

proved you have got to be careful with the rear tyre. Kicked out,

quickly put it on an opposite lock. Corded fast and had to use the run

off area. Daniel Riccardo, similar, but use the same road of area. For

Vergne that was a heart stopping moment. A little bit more cloud

cover. It is 3:30, local time. Men and women have been racing here for

many years, this is the 70th addition, going back to the 1920s.

It is one of the heartlands in Europe, along with Italy, Germany.

France, which does not have a Grand Prix at the moment, what a loss that

is to the sport at this time. Spain are a relative newcomer. This

place, somehow, for a tiny country, it has always been synonymous with

motorsports. Tremendous drivers have come out of here. One of the most

majestic racetracks anywhere in the world. It always has been. Even in a

slightly different format from the old days, it always will be. Perez

is out That is the faster side of things.

If we look up the long run is now, Lewis Hamilton probably has the

quickest long run of anyone on soft tyres, and then Nico Rosberg is just

behind him. A little bit more consistent but a little bit slower.

Ricciardo looks to be pretty good at keeping the rear tyre grip. Then the

Williams just behind. Button, actually reasonably competitive.

Ultimately, it is going to be with the Mercedes and then the Ricciardo,

or the Red Bull and Williams battle. Alonso has denied he laps, eight or

nine less than the Mercedes cars. He has done a shortish run. -- eight or

nine laps. They seem to have reasonable qualifying times. He has

been third here on the qualifying simulations. He was third again this

morning. Sometimes they play around with fuel levels, it's a little bit

deceptive. But Ferrari should be stroganoff with Alonzo to get

themselves to the chequered flag. Ferrari should be strong enough to

get them onto the top Ferrari should be strong enough to

have they done enough homework to know where they are on strategy? I

think they will be strong around here. Hopefully, for them, they will

qualify on the second row of the grid. After that, we have got to

look at one of the electric starts from Fernando Alonso. There will be

disappointed with Kimi Raikkonen in 16th, but that's representative. He

equalled it in a short run, with high fuel load. Alonso will be in

there. Mercedes topped the time sheets. Ross Berg have the edge. It

is a big margin between Hamilton and Rosberg. An untidy lap from the

World Championship leader. He's never won here. Alonso has never won

this grand cru, but third at the moment for Ferrari. Terrific drive

by him. Felipe Massa has been a winner here. He is forth. Button has

also won, he fifth. Bottas is sixth quickest. Kvyat is seventh.

Ricciardo eight, Magnussen ninth, Hulkenberg rounding out the top ten.

Ericsson gets ahead of his new team-mate for this weekend, Andre

Lotterer, by a fraction. Sebastian Vettel took no part in the session

due to a power unit problem. Gutierrez and Maldonado had

problems, a big Gutierrez and Maldonado had

Maldonado early in the session. That is the story of free practice two.

The final thoughts? Very quickly, Mercedes are looking very strong, as

they have done. It is going to be Ferrari right behind and then a good

battle between the Williams, who are competitive in qualifying and race

pace. Ricciardo needs to have a good qualifying if he is going to be in

pace. Ricciardo needs to have a good the mix. Lewis Hamilton ends the day

fastest. It is a track that he loves. He has put down a

fastest. It is a track that he for Rosberg. He will know that

Hamilton has a small edge based on Friday. But he is

Hamilton has a small edge based on going to be very exciting qualifying

Hamilton has a small edge based on at Spa. Well, it's a circuit that

demands accuracy. If you don't get it right, it tends not to end well,

as Pastor Maldonado found out in the first few hits of the session, the

first red flag. The second was for Esteban Gutierrez. Very fast and

very scary place to lose control. What an impressive lap by Lewis

Hamilton. Don't forget, this was the start of Sebastian Vettel's

domination last season, and how Lewis Hamilton would like to emulate

that between now and Abu Dhabi. So much to talk about. If you would

like to keep up-to-date, you can catch me on Inside F1 On The Bbc

News Channel. I'll Be Back Tomorrow Morning On Bbc Two. Thanks For Your

Company Throughout The Day. Goodbye. MUSIC: "Black Skinhead"

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