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Formula 1 Belgian GP

2014 Belgian Grand Prix Friday - Practice

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Massa is asked for his thoughts on his previous run. "I think it was OK. It wasn't so bad," he says with little enthusiasm. The Brazilian is fourth at the moment.
Just under 35 minutes to go and Hamilton leads Rosberg by 0.604s. The current order:

1 Hamilton
2 Rosberg
3 Alonso
4 Massa
5 Button
6 Bottas
7 Kvyat
8 Magnussen
9 Hulkenberg
10 Vergne
11 Sutil
12 Perez
13 Grosjean
14 Bianchi
15 Ricciardo
16 Raikkonen
17 Gutierrez
18 Ericsson
19 Lotterer
20 Chilton
Maldonado's shunt early in the session has attracted some scathing criticism from the Twittersphere for the Venezuelan's driving - he is now trending more than Chilton.
Alonso slots into third with a 1m49.930s. He's doing his best to stick with the Mercedes.
Vettel's problems today means he will use his fifth engine of the season for the rest of the weekend. Could Red Bull be the first to use a sixth engine and receive a penalty for it this season?
Grosjean reports he is having problems with his rear tyres again today. They are "all over the place," he says.
Stopwatch
Hamilton then goes quickest with a 1m49.189s. Talk about times tumbling!
Fastest S2 from Hamilton.
Stopwatch
Rosberg takes over at the top – and sets the first time under 1m50s with a 1m49.793s.
Bottas is now second. He sets a 1m50.677s, with the best third sector of the session.
Kvyat moves into second with a 1m50.725s lap.
News Raikkonen didn't want to hear this afternoon: "We have a misfire, so we have to change another bit of the car."
Kvyat sets the fastest second sector.
Adrian Sutil shows the difference between the two compounds with a 1m51.450s to go fourth for Sauber – which is quicker than Rosberg's P1 time from this morning.
Magnussen has a good record at Spa - he won the first Formula Renault 3.5 race here last year, and has claimed all four poles available in his two seasons in the series.
Stopwatch
Button is immediately quicker than his team-mate with a 1m50.659s to go fastest.
Stopwatch
Magnussen goes quickest with a 1m51.074s – about 1.6s faster than he was before.
Both McLarens are setting purple sectors.
Looks as if there is soft tyre running going on. Could see times tumble soon.
Kimi Raikkonen is the most successful of the current drivers at this circuit. He has won at Spa four times, but is unlikely to add to that tally given the performance of the Ferrari this season.

His current time is some 16s off Hamilton's fastest time in this session.
Button, Sutil and Lotterer are back out. No surprise Lotterer is looking to bank as many laps as possible today.
Green flag
The session resumes with just over 53 minutes remaining.
Tomorrow could well be a tough day for Gutierrez. He sat out this morning's session and has completed just seven laps this afternoon. Not ideal preparation.
Guiterrez beats his Sauber back to the pits and the session will resume shortly.
With plenty of time off between the Hungary and Belgium races, most teams have brought updates.

Caterham's has been the most noticeable with their new, slightly less offensive nose and front wing.

Red Bull had been doing some aero running this morning, observing the vis-paint at the rear of their cars.

Bottas meanwhile confirmed yesterday that Williams has only brought small updates this weekend.
A good time to tell you the current order:

1 Hamilton
2 Alonso
3 Rosberg
4 Massa
5 Button
6 Kvyat
7 Magnussen
8 Hulkenberg
9 Bottas
10 Sutil
11 Ricciardo
12 Vergne
13 Grosjean
14 Perez
15 Gutierrez
16 Bianchi
17 Ericsson
18 Lotterer
19 Chilton
20 Raikkonen
Red flag
Session has been red-flagged once again.
"Can you get back to the garage?" Guiterrez is asked. He says it's impossible as he suffered a problem with his gearbox. Replays show he lost the car through the quick left-hander.
Crash
Gutierrez is facing the wrong way at what appears to be Blanchimont.
Hamilton has dominated FP2 sessions all year, with only two race weekends this year where he hasn't set the quickest time.
Ricciardo has an off-track moment at Les Combes. No damage done.
Stopwatch
Good lap from Hamilton to go quickest. A 1m51.276s effort to displace Alonso.
"I'm really struggling with the rear, especially at Turns 7 and 8," says Button. He then suggests doing another lap before switching to the softs.
Fastest first and second sectors for Hamilton...
Running off track limits has been a big talking point this year, with Silverstone and Red Bull Ring both featuring drivers penalised for gaining an advantage for exceeding the track limits.

Spa is another circuit where an advantage can be gained, so expect qualifying times to be deleted tomorrow for those who do exceed limits, and radio calls from engineers warning drivers to keep all four wheels inside the white line.
Chilton is reporting "massive understeer" in his Marussia. He's 19th at the moment.
Stopwatch
Alonso goes straight to the top with a 1m51.693s.
With Maldonado's shunt early on in this session, it is a good reminder there is a chance of a safety car in the race on Sunday. Eight of the last 12 races have seen safety car periods, with the demanding corners and unpredictable weather conditions making it a likely prospect.
Hamilton is the first in the 51s with a 1m51.989s. Rosberg is currently on 1m52.065s, with Massa's best a 1m52.214s.
Stopwatch
For a brief moment Felipe Massa was quickest, before being quickly displaced by first Rosberg, and then Hamilton.

By: Dan Cross, Andrew van Leeuwen, AUTOSPORT staff, Matt Beer, Pablo Elizalde

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