Lewis Hamilton: Mercedes boss sums up Belgian Grand Prix practice fortunes
LEWIS HAMILTON had a steady two practice sessions at the Belgian Grand Prix.
Drivers returned to their cars today after a four-week summer break and Ferrari continue to look the quickest.
Sebastian Vettel won FP1 while team-mate Kimi Raikkonen recorded the fastest lap of FP2.
Mercedes and Ferrari have both installed new engines for this weekend as the battle for the World Championship begins to heat up.
Hamilton was the third fastest during the opening session at the Spa-Francorchamps before improving his standing to second later in the day.
And Wolff was satisfied with how his team performed on their first day back.
“Mixed. I think we were doing okay on the single lap pace, it was very tight with Ferrari,” Wolff said.
“Then we were good on the softer tyres but not so good on the mediums.
“It is the third power unit and obviously we have two power sensitive circuits to come in here [Spa] and then Monza.
“We have made a little step so let’s see how we can monetise it tomorrow in qualifying.
“Yeah I think we have seen that in the last engine iterations that we were able to make steps forward.
“I don’t know what Ferrari has achieved, we will see the truth tomorrow in Q3. I am hopeful that we have made the right step.”
Wolff took some well deserved time away from F1 during the break although there was one massive piece of news which kept him busy - Force India going into administration.
“It was nice to spend some time with the family but then the Force India thing obviously kept me busy,” he added.
FP2 results
1: Kimi Raikkonen 1:43.355
2: Lewis Hamilton 1:43.523
3: Valtteri Bottas 1:43.803
4: Max Verstappen 1:44.046
5: Sebastian Vettel 1:44.129
6: Daniel Ricciardo 1:44.250
7: Sergio Perez 1:44.662
8: Carlos Sainz 1:45.481
9: Marcus Ericsson 1:45.537
10: Charles Leclerc 1:45.622