McLaren hint at Hungary repeat after blitzing Belgian practice

Lando Norris set the benchmark in practice for the Belgian Grand Prix, spearheading a McLaren one-two that could pose difficulties if they can repeat the feat in qualifying.

Following an FP1 dominated by three-time F1 champion Verstappen at the Spa-Francorchamps circuit, who finished just over half a second faster than his nearest rival, the Red Bull driver was forced to yield to McLaren in FP2 when the pace was ramped up.

Norris finished quickest with a lap of 1:42.260s, 0.215s ahead of team-mate Piastri, with Verstappen a further two-thousandths down as the trio were comfortably faster than the rest of the field.

A week ago in Hungary, McLaren locked out the front row, with Norris on pole. The Briton, however, had to settle for second behind Piastri at the end of a contentious race when it appeared he would not yield the victory to his team-mate.

Based on another strong practice showing, it appears Verstappen again faces a fight in qualifying with the McLaren duo, although he will go into the race with the handicap of a 10-place grid penalty.

It was confirmed during FP1 that a new internal combustion engine had been introduced into the pool, the first beyond the permitted four allocated for the season.

Two years ago, Verstappen won from 14th on the grid following a plethora of PU penalties, beating team-mate Sergio Perez on that occasion by almost 18 seconds, even though the Mexican had started second.

Verstappen may face a papaya wall on Sunday in his bid to secure a fourth consecutive Belgian GP victory.

Norris masters Spa balance

As in FP1, Verstappen again set the early pace as the majority of the opening laps were run on the medium compound tyres, posting a time of 1:43.456s, just a tenth-of-a-second slower than his leading lap in the first session on the softs.

Norris opted for an initial run of softs to start his session, leading to the Briton finishing 0.115s off the pace. Verstappen's next lap on the yellow-striped Pirellis saw him set the best practice time with a 1:43.339s.

In terms of Verstappen's medium tyre rivals, Russell was the closest, albeit four-tenths down, with Hamilton just four-thousandths behind his team-mate.

On the first of the more representative qualifying runs 25 minutes into the session, Ferrari's Carlos Sainz powered past Verstappen by 0.241s before Piastri posted a superb time of 1:42.475s, over six-tenths quicker than the Ferrari.

On Verstappen's first flying lap, the three-time F1 champion finished two-thousandths of a second down on Piastri. It was then Norris who had the last word on the soft tyres, however, by finishing two-tenths up.

Norris suggested he managed to find the difficult-to-achieve balance as he was quickest in the middle and final sectors, although he did gain a slight low in the latter.

The anomaly with Spa is trying to build the balance between high-speed sectors one and three, compared to the corner-laden middle sector. Going for pace in one and three leads to quicker tyre wear, and a slower sector two. Going for downforce in sector two leaves drivers more vulnerable along the straights.

In terms of challengers to the top three, Ferrari's Charles Leclerc was the closest, but almost six-tenths back, followed by Sainz, and then Russell, albeit 1.030s down.

Esteban Ocon was seventh, that after missing all of FP1 bar one lap due to a leak in the battery's cooling circuit. Due to the difficulty in accessing the issue, the team had to remove the power unit before it could be repaired.

Running different downforce levels compared to team-mate Nico Hulkenberg, Haas' Kevin Magnussen was seventh, narrowly ahead of another disappointing showing from Sergio Perez on a crucial weekend for the Mexican who finished a second behind Verstappen.

Hamilton failed to produce a solid soft-tyre run and was a lowly 10th, 1.259s down, with the seven-time champion ahead of Aston Martin duo Lance Stroll and Fernando Alonso.

RB's Daniel Ricciardo ended his session with an issue, describing his car as "wobbly", forcing him back to the pits for checks.

Team-mate Yuki Tsunoda, who will start at the back of the grid on Sunday due to a full power unit change beyond allocation, propped up the timesheet, two seconds behind Norris.

Today's running will at least be beneficial for Sunday as rain is forecast throughout Saturday.