How Belgian Grand Prix second practice unfolded

1. Verstappen tops second practice despite crash
2. Leclerc crashes; Perez to stay at Red Bull for 2022
3. Bottas fastest in first practice, Raikkonen crashes in pit lane
4. Get involved #bbcf1

Back at 10:30 BST on Saturday

That's all for today. We'll be back at 10:30 BST on Saturday for third practice and then qualifying.

Thanks for joining us and your comments, have a great Friday and see you all tomorrow.

Verstappen fastest for Red Bull despite crash - read the report

Andrew Benson

BBC Sport’s chief F1 writer

Red Bull's Max Verstappen ended Friday practice with a crash after setting the fastest time ahead of both Mercedes drivers.

The Dutchman, eight points behind Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton in the championship, lost control at the Malmedy right-hander.

Verstappen backed into the wall, bringing out the red flag and causing a premature end to the session.

He was 0.039 seconds quicker than Valtteri Bottas, with Hamilton third. The seven-time champion was just 0.031secs behind his team-mate, but the Red Bull driver used different tyres to set his time.

Verstappen's quickest time was on the soft tyre, whereas the Mercedes drivers' best laps were on the medium. Both Bottas and Hamilton failed to improve when they tried the soft tyres.

Second practice times

Here are the times from the second session and it's oh so tight at the top.

F1

BreakingVerstappen fastest in second practice, but ends session with a crash

Normally the last few minutes of second practice are dull, but could this prove to be a costly moment in Max Verstappen's weekend?

His car is unable to get going again and he ends the session fastest but will be more worried about his damaged car being lifted on to the back of the recovery truck.

Mercedes took second and third, with Valtteri Bottas 0.041 seconds behind and Lewis Hamilton 0.072 away.

Fernando Alonso, Pierre Gasly, Lance Stroll, Esteban Ocon, Sebastian Vettel, Lando Norris and Sergio Perez make up the top 10.

That brings the session to an end.

Verstappen has crashed

With three minutes of second practice left Max Verstappen has gone into the barrier.

"I've lost the rear," says the Dutchman and it's going to be a late night for the Red Bull mechanics.

Not been the best of days for Daniel Ricciardo in the McLaren as he's 15th and seven tenths behind his team-mate Lando Norris in ninth.

Leclerc's car has been removed and we're back under way for the last 10 minutes.

How they stand with 10 minutes to go

1. Verstappen 1:44.472 (Red Bull, most recent tyres softs)
2. Bottas +0.041 (Mercedes, mediums)
3. Hamilton +0.072 (Mercedes, mediums)
4. Alonso +0.481 (Alpine, softs)
5. Gasly +0.493 (Alpha Tauri, softs)
6. Stroll +0.708 (Aston Martin, softs)
7. Ocon +0.83 (Alpine, hards)
8. Vettel +0.864 (Aston Martin, softs)
9. Norris +0.914 (McLaren, softs)
10. Perez +0.932 (Red Bull, softs)

Red flag

Everyone back to the pits as that Leclerc crash brings out the red flag.

Leclerc crashes into barrier

"Sorry guys, lost it on the exit of five and six."

It's all set up for another thrilling qualifying session tomorrow as Max Verstappen now leads the way with a 1:44.472 and that's 0.041 clear of Valtteri Bottas and 0.072 ahead of Hamilton.

Jolyon Palmer

Former Renault driver on BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra

It's a really muddled day here so far.

A brief yellow flag as Esteban Ocon has flung it around.

"It's OK, no damage," he says.

After 30 minutes

1. Bottas 1:44.513 (Mercedes, current tyres softs)
2. Hamilton +0.031 (Mercedes, softs)
3. Verstappen +0.084 (Red Bull, mediums)
4. Alonso +0.44 (Alpine, softs)
5. Vettel +0.823 (Aston Martin, softs)

Get Involved

Tristan Scott: So gutted for @PierreGASLY what more could he have done since Spa 2 years ago? Time to move to a none Red Bull seat? Norris & Gasly at McClaren would be tasty!

Ian Warrender: Perez deserves the seat, but it does make me question the status of the RB driver program. Other question is how long can Russell wait if he doesn't get the drive?

Jolyon Palmer

Former Renault driver on BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra

You need more downforce in the wet. But don't get me started on the weather forecast.

Only eight hundredths of a second separate the top three - Bottas, Hamilton, Verstappen.

Lewis Hamilton was down in 18th earlier on when he was hampered on his best flying lap, but he's sent in a time now but it's only good for second.

Hamilton is 0.031 behind Bottas but with the Finn getting a five-place grid penalty for causing the carnage in Budapest earlier this month, a similar performance in qualifying tomorrow would see Hamilton start at the front.

We've got loads of times on the board and an early leader is Valtteri Bottas on the mediums and he's 1.6 seconds clear of Nicholas Latifi in the Williams, on the same compound.