Free Practice 2: Hamilton grabs the fastest time, Grosjean 5th at Spa

Lewis Hamilton delivered the best performance of the day at the Spa-Francorchamps circuit in Belgium in anticipation of the Grand Prix. The McLaren driver set his best time at the end of the second free practice session. He was ahead of Timo Glock in the Toyota and Kimi Räikkönen (Ferrari). Romain Grosjean finished this second session in an impressive 5th position, while Alonso was only 14th; The Brawn GP and Williams drivers were surprisingly far behind.

In cool but decent conditions – it is no longer raining and the temperature is 18°C in the air, 27°C on the track – Lewis Hamilton recorded the fastest time in Free Practice 2 and on the first day of the 2009 Belgian Grand Prix. The session took place on a dry track, with slick tires and was only interrupted by a red flag, deployed when Luca Badoer lost his left front wheel cover after 20 minutes of the session.

Timo Glock is only 16 thousandths behind Lewis Hamilton. He continues to prove the good performance of the Toyotas, which are clearly designed for such tracks, whereas they struggled last weekend in Spain. Jarno Trulli is also well positioned with the 7th best time.

As expected, the Red Bulls also seem to be in better form than last week in Valencia. Vettel, who didn’t run this morning due to the rain, is in 10th place, while Mark Webber set the 4th fastest time, just behind Kimi Räikkönen. The Finn remains the only Ferrari driver currently able to compete with the best – Luca Badoer being once again more than two seconds behind.

Romain Grosjean arrived in Formula 1 last week but is proving that his adaptation is swift. The Frenchman placed his Renault in 5th position this afternoon in Belgium. He knew the circuit but had limited running this morning during the FP1 session. He managed to outpace Fernando Alonso, his teammate and double world champion, by half a second. Alonso was unable to improve his time in his final flying laps and is classified in 14th position.

Similarly, Fisichella and Force India also surprise. The Italian has the 6th best time of the day and is two-tenths ahead of his teammate Adrian Sutil. The German thus ranks 13th. Force India works hard. The team led by Vijay Mallya has a new aerodynamic package specially designed for Spa and its very long circuit.

Kubica is 8th, ahead of the young driver Alguersuari, also a rookie in F1. The Spaniard has the pleasure of once again leading by a nose his equally young but more experienced teammate, Buemi. He is 11th. The two Toro Rossos thus flank Vettel’s Red Bull, proof that their packages are somewhat similar.

Kovalainen is 12th and in the second McLaren, he disappoints at more than half a second behind Hamilton. The Finn is still fighting to keep his seat at McLaren for 2010. His potential replacement, Nico Rosberg, is for once very far behind as the Williams seems to struggle on this track. Nakajima is 15th, Rosberg 19th.

The verdict is also very harsh for the Brawn GP drivers. After regaining performance in Valencia last week, Button and Barrichello are nearly a second off the best time during this free practice session 2.

Results of Free Practice 2 – Belgian Grand Prix – Friday, August 28, 2009: