Hamilton set the pace on the medium Pirelli tyre during the long run phase of the session before and then posted a 1:49.189 when he made the switch to the quicker soft tyre.

Rosberg couldn’t match his team-mate’s pace, with his own run on the option tyre hampered by a couple of small errors. He ended the session 0.604 down on his team-mate.

Following the Mercedes duo

As in the morning, Fernando Alonso finished closest to the Mercedes pair, the Ferrari driver finishing 0.741s off the pace set by Hamilton.

After finishing 15th in the morning session, Williams’ Felipe Massa improved dramatically in the afternoon, climbing to fourth by the end of the session with a time of 1:50.327. 1.1s down on Hamilton’s time.

Valterri Bottas was sixth in the sister Williams car, the Finn finishing just under two tenths adrift of McLaren’s Jenson Button.

Daniil Kvyat was seventh for Toro Rosso, ahead of Red Bull Racing’s Daniel Ricciardo, who along with Kvyat and Alonso were the only non-Mercedes-powered men in the top 10. Ricciardo ended the session 1.788s off the pace. Kevin Magnussen in the second McLaren was ninth, ahead of Force India’s Nico Hulkenberg.

Issues for Vettel and Maldonado

Ricciardo’s team-mate Sebastian Vettel did not take any part in the session, having been sidelined in FP1 by an exhaust issue which necessitated a change of power unit.

Also failing to set a time in the afternoon session was Pastor Maldonado. The Lotus driver’s session ended on his second lap out when, on the run down to Pouhon, he lost control of his car and hit the barriers. With debris strewn across the track the red flags came out.

The red flags came out again later in the session – this time for Esteban Gutierrez. The Sauber driver completed just seven laps in the afternoon before spinning at Blanchimont and then stopping out on circuit. The Mexican reported that the stop had been caused by a gearbox issue.

2014 Belgian Grand Prix – Free Practice 2 Times
1 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:49.189 26
2 Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1:49.793 0.604 28
3 Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1:49.930 0.741 19
4 Felipe Massa Williams 1:50.327 1.138 24
5 Jenson Button McLaren 1:50.659 1.470 31
6 Valtteri Bottas Williams 1:50.677 1.488 26
7 Daniil Kvyat Toro Rosso 1:50.725 1.536 25
8 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull Racing 1:50.977 1.788 16
9 Kevin Magnussen McLaren 1:51.074 1.885 31
10 Nico Hulkenberg Force India 1:51.077 1.888 26
11 Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso 1:51.383 2.194 26
12 Adrian Sutil Sauber 1:51.450 2.261 29
13 Sergio Perez Force India 1:51.573 2.384 28
14 Romain Grosjean Lotus 1:52.196 3.007 25
15 Kimi Räikkönen Ferrari 1:52.234 3.045 18
16 Jules Bianchi Marussia 1:52.776 3.587 23
17 Esteban Gutierrez Sauber 1:53.955 4.766 7
18 Max Chilton Marussia 1:54.040 4.851 18
19 Marcus Ericsson Caterham 1:54.050 4.861 30
20 Andre Lotterer Caterham 1:54.093 4.904 24
21 Pastor Maldonado Lotus No time 2
22 Sebastian Vettel Red Bull Racing No time 0

FIA F1

Fastest three

The championship leader ended the opening session with a best lap of 1:51.577, outpacing team-mate Lewis Hamilton by 0.097s.

Mercedes-powered cars dominated proceedings, with just the Ferraris of Fernando Alonso and Kimi Raikkonen and the Red Bull of Daniel Ricciardo figuring in a top 10 otherwise solely populated by cars using Mercedes power units.

Alonso finished the session in third place, just two tenths down on Rosberg’s table–topping time.

The rest

 He was followed by the McLaren-Mercedes of Jenson Button, with Spa specialist Räikkönen, a four-time Belgian Grand Prix winner, slotting into fourth place. Sergio Pérez posted a useful fifth-fastest time for Force India, while Kevin Magnussen was sixth, though the Dane was over half a second down on McLaren team-mate Button.

Nico Hulkenberg was eighth fastest in the sister Force India car ahead of Ricciardo. The Australian’s team-mate Sebastian Vettel had a troubled session. The German reported gearbox problems, ran wide at Pouhon and then was forced to retire from the session with exhaust failure. The team later reported that he would miss FP2 as a result of the issues.

Valtteri Bottas was the only Williams driver to finish inside the top 10, seven tenths quicker than team-­mate Felipe Massa.

Rossi and Lotterer

Further back, Alexander Rossi drove the session for Marussia, at the end of a confusing 24 hours for the team. Yesterday, the team reported that the American racer would drive for the whole weekend in place of regular racer Max Chilton due to “contractual issues” with the British driver, a decision confirmed by the race stewards.

On Friday morning, however, the team, again with the permission of race stewards, reversed its decision and reinstated Chilton to his race seat, with Rossi confined to an FP1 outing. The US driver finished the session in 20th place, 5.6s down on Rosberg.

Behind him, making his first grand prix weekend appearance was 2012 World Endurance Championship winner Andre Lotterer.

The German, who races for Audi Sport Team Joest in the WEC, is racing this weekend for Caterham, replacing regular driver Kamui Kobayashi. He finished the session in 21st place ahead of team-mate Marcus Ericsson.

2014 Belgian Grand Prix – Free Practice 1 Times
1 Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1:51.577 25
2 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:51.674 0.097 24
3 Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1:51.805 0.228 16
4 Jenson Button McLaren 1:52.404 0.827 21
5 Kimi Räikkönen Ferrari 1:52.818 1.241 17
6 Sergio Perez Force India 1:52.903 1.326 24
7 Kevin Magnussen McLaren 1:52.922 1.345 23
8 Nico Hulkenberg Force India 1:52.937 1.360 22
9 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull Racing 1:52.972 1.395 19
10 Valtteri Bottas Williams 1:53.172 1.595 20
11 Sebastian Vettel Red Bull Racing 1:53.369 1.792 11
12 Daniil Kvyat Toro Rosso 1:53.594 2.017 21
13 Romain Grosjean Lotus 1:53.597 2.020 20
14 Adrian Sutil Sauber 1:53.703 2.126 14
15 Felipe Massa Williams 1:53.968 2.391 20
16 Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso 1:54.189 2.612 20
17 Giedo van der Garde Sauber 1:54.335 2.758 16
18 Pastor Maldonado Lotus 1:55.336 3.759 21
19 Jules Bianchi Marussia 1:55.782 4.205 19
20 Alexander Rossi Marussia 1:57.232 5.655 20
21 Andre Lotterer Caterham 1:57.886 6.309 24
22 Marcus Ericsson Caterham 1:57.977 6.400 24

FIA F1