F1 Belgian GP: Friday round-up

Mercedes’ Nico Rosberg set the pace during second practice for the F1 Belgian Grand Prix, but suffered a high-speed tyre blowout that brought his session to a premature halt.

Having timed the historic Spa-Francorchamps Circuit in 1:49.385, Rosberg’s right-rear tyre deflated on the run up to Blanchimont, sending him into a scary spin. Although the German was able to avoid the barriers, extensive damage to his car curtailed further running.

The following red flag prevented anyone from overhauling Rosberg’s lap time, with Hamilton emerging as the closest challenger in second place.

The two Red Bull cars of Daniel Ricciardo and Daniil Kvyat were third and fourth quickest - which comes as a surprise, given the horsepower deficit of the Renault engine.

Kimi Raikkonen - the most successful driver at Spa on the current F1 grid - finished fifth, a few days after he extended his contract with Ferrari until the end of next year.

Hulkenberg finished a strong sixth for Force India ahead of Lotus’ Romain Grosjean, as talks of Renault buyout intensifies.

Sauber also looked like a formidable outfit, now that it has received the upgraded Ferrari power unit. Marcus Ericsson was eighth fastest, with teammate Nasr was two tenths adrift in ninth. Sebastian Vettel rounded-off the top 10.

Williams followed their pattern of hiding their true pace in practice, focusing instead on high fuel runs.

McLaren drivers were the slowest of all runners bar Marussia, despite Honda using three engine tokens during the summer break. The Woking squad had little hopes from this weekend, given the power-hungry nature of the Spa-Francorchamps Circuit.

A new kerb has been installed on the bottom of Eau Rogue, a corner that has become a lot more challenging since F1's new technical regulations were introduced in 2014..

The race itself will see a major change, with no drivers no longer allowed to take start assistance from the team, once they’ve left the pits.