Antonelli Dominates Belgian GP Practice as Mercedes Shows Race Pace Edge

Championship leader Kimi Antonelli dominated Friday practice at Spa-Francorchamps, topping the timesheets with a 1:45.944 and outperforming the field on high-fuel race simulations. The Mercedes driver finished 0.190 seconds clear of Lando Norris and nearly half a second ahead of Max Verstappen, while his long-run pace proved even more telling.

Why it matters:

Mercedes appears to have found a potent combination of single-lap speed and tyre management at a circuit where both are critical. Antonelli's minimal degradation suggests the team has overcome previous long-run struggles, positioning him as the firm favorite for qualifying and Sunday's likely one-stop race.

The details:

• Antonelli topped FP2 with a 1:45.944, ahead of Norris (+0.190) and Verstappen (+0.472).
• On corrected long runs, he averaged 0.21s per lap faster than Charles Leclerc, though a red flag limited the Ferrari driver's data.
• Verstappen averaged 0.29s per lap slower than Antonelli, with tyre degradation of 0.227s versus Antonelli's 0.078s over eight laps.
• Ferrari's signal: Lewis Hamilton set the fastest FP1 long-run average, 0.29s quicker than Antonelli, but differing fuel loads cloud direct comparisons.
• Aston Martin in trouble: Fernando Alonso's best FP2 lap was just 0.1s quicker than Antonelli's race-simulation average, leaving the team only 2.2 seconds inside the projected 107% threshold.
• Midfield: Alpine led the midfield in qualifying trim, while Audi posted the best long-run pace in FP1.

What's next:

Red Bull's straight-line speed offers hope of a qualifying fightback, but Ferrari needs cleaner running to join the battle. Aston Martin faces a genuine risk of missing the 107% cut before its Hungary upgrade, while Pirelli expects tyre conservation to define a one-stop Sunday.