Belgian Grand Prix: Practice Recap

FP1 saw Nico Hulkenberg and Kevin Magnussen venture out onto Formula 1’s longest circuit on differing run plans for the opening 60-minute session. Hulkenberg opted to begin on the Pirelli P Zero Yellow medium tire, setting a fastest time of 1:46.764, as Magnussen bolted on a set of the hard compound for his baseline stint, clocking a time of 1:47.372. A switch to the soft compound for both saw further progress, Hulkenberg’s best effort of 1:45.645 just ahead of Magnussen’s quickest attempt of 1:45.812. To take the checkered flag, both drivers returned to the tires they started the session on, finishing P17 and P18 on the timesheets. 

The VF-24s were kitted out with different rear wing specs to compare data in FP2. Magnussen left the garage on the medium compound, banking a lap of 1:44.882. A fresh set of softs produced a time of 1:43.485 to put the Dane P8, before a high-fuel run on the same tire to finish the session. Hulkenberg started on a new set of White hards, recording a lap of 1:45.399, with the German swapping to new softs to achieve his fastest time of 1:43.846. A final stint on the hards Hulkenberg started the session on concluded the day’s running, finishing P16 overall. 

MoneyGram Haas F1 Team ran a total of 80 laps on Friday across FP1 and FP2 – 40 from Hulkenberg and 40 from Magnussen.



Nico Hulkenberg:

“It was a tricky Friday in some ways, I didn’t feel the happiest in the car so we need to analyze the data overnight and find a bit more of a sweet spot and harmony between balance and performance. We learned some things today though so it’s all about putting it together tomorrow and putting the best package together. The weather in qualifying could be quite a bit different to Sunday so we’ll need to take a decision on set-up and downforce, it’s going to be interesting.” 

Kevin Magnussen:

“It was a pretty good day; we were looking at different downforce levels and it’s always difficult to pick the right one in Spa. The nature of the track is between different levels of downforce and with the weather also you need to factor in the risk of having to run in the wet, it’s not an easy situation but it’s the same for everyone. Over one lap, it doesn’t matter so much around here as although it means something to start up-front, in the race you can overtake quite easily here, and you need good race pace. We looked decent in FP2, so let’s see.”

Ayao Komatsu, Team Principal:

“In FP1 we struggled quite a bit with neither driver being happy with consistency through corner balance. In FP2 we took a different strategy across the cars because we’ve got the change of weather conditions expected tomorrow, so we wanted to get as much data as possible. I think the strategy of splitting worked – we haven’t taken any decisions yet – but certainly we’ve got a good amount of data to look through tonight. I think we made a good step from FP1 to FP2, we’re certainly in a better position, and in the high-fuel run we were okay but we can still definitely improve. I think it’s been a productive Friday, we just need to decide the correct set-up for the compromise between a potentially wet qualifying and a dry race.”

Today's Data: 

Event: Free Practice 1 & 2 for the Belgian Grand Prix – Friday July 26
Location: Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, Belgium
Layout: 7.004-kilometer (4.352-mile), 19-turn circuit 
FP1 & FP2 Weather: Cloudy
Drivers: Nico Hulkenberg & Kevin Magnussen

Free Practice 1 (FP1) Rundown:

Hulkenberg: 17th overall (1:45.645), 19 laps 
Magnussen: 18th overall (1:45.812), 19 laps 
Fastest: Max Verstappen of Red Bull Racing (1:43.372)

Free Practice 2 (FP2) Rundown:

Magnussen: 8th overall (1:43.485), 21 laps  
Hulkenberg: 16th overall (1:43.846), 21 laps
Fastest: Lando Norris of McLaren (1:42.260)