2013 Belgian Grand Prix Friday practice two

2 min: Rosberg heads out for an early run in the Mercedes.

2 min: Maldonado is next out, followed by Sutil as the leading drivers come around to start the first timed lap.

1 min: Bottas joins them on track and the circuit is becoming busy already.

1 min: Ricciardo, Vergne and di Resta head out to check over the circuit conditions.

1 min: The standard form at the beginning of this session is for the drivers to head straight into a run of between five and seven laps.

0 min: The practice session is underway.

Air temperature has climbed steadily to 28 Celsius, as Lewis Hamilton gets ready for this afternoon's action.

Tyres

Pirelli has arrived in Belgium with its hard and medium tyres - a move that was explained very clearly in the lead-up to the weekend by the Italian manufacturer's motorsport boss Paul Hembery.

"Spa is not only an epic circuit, but also one of the biggest challenges for our tyres all year," said Hembery. "Mostly this is because of the very high-energy loads that go all the way through the tyres, both vertically - due to the big compressions such as Eau Rouge – and also laterally at fast corners like Blanchimont. Often, the tyres are subjected to forces acting in different directions at the same time, which increases the work still further."

As ever, finding the best compromise between car set-up, tyre durability and managing a decreasing fuel load is the aim of the teams and drivers this weekend.

Showers and light spells of rain continued for some time during the break, but the last of today's rain has now passed over and we are looking at better conditions this afternoon.

We have bright sunshine over the circuit, while there is a light easterly breeze. Air temperature is edging towards today's maximum of 22 degrees Celsius.

Alons

Hello everyone and welcome back to AUTOSPORT Live for continuing coverage of round 11 in this year's FIA Formula 1 world championship - the Belgian Grand Prix from Spa-Francorchamps.

Fernando Alonso led this morning's first session with a lap of 1m55.198s, but times proved to be meaningless as the weather dominated the session with spots falling from time to time - just enough to keep the track surface damp and slippery.

Paul di Resta placed second with Force India team-mate Adrian Sutil in third spot, Sergio Perez fourth, Nico Rosberg fifth and world champion Sebastian Vettel in sixth, 0.438s off the leading pace.

With better conditions coming for the upcoming second session, the teams and drivers will be able to conduct much more meaningful work this afternoon in terms of dry tyre comparison and running with varying levels of fuel in preparation for Sunday's race.