Lewis Hamilton sent a message to his title rival Nico Rosberg as he blitzed the Spa Francorchamps circuit to end Friday practice for the Belgian Grand Prix at the top of the timesheets.
The Mercedes driver ended the second free practice session six tenths of a second clear of his team-mate after posting a blistering quick session best of 1.48.189s, on soft tyres, in the second half of a truncated 90 minute session.
Nico Rosberg, who topped the opening free practice outing, had no answer to Hamilton's pace with the German clearly slower in all three sectors.
Fernando Alonso showed encouraging pace for Ferrari as he set the third fastest time just a tenth adrift of Rosberg. Meanwhile, the Spaniard's team-mate Kimi Raikkonen continued to struggle with the back end of his F14 T, leaving the Finn in 15th spot.
Williams appear to be in the frame for another strong weekend with drivers Felipe Massa and Valtteri Bottas sandwiching the improving McLaren of Jenson Button in fifth.
It proved to be a difficult day for Red Bull Racing with Daniel Ricciardo only managing to post a time good enough for eighth behind the sister Toro Rosso car of Daniil Kvyat.
There were further dramas for the world champion team as Sebastian Vettel was forced to sit out free practice two with an electrical problem. The team elected to undergo an engine change to his RB10.
The German had been suffering with gearbox and exhaust issues in the morning practice session, which saw him bank just 11 laps.
McLaren's Kevin Magnussen and Force India's Nico Hulkenberg rounded out the top 10.
The second session was stopped twice after Lotus‘ Pastor Maldonado suffered a high speed accident at Pouhon, before Sauber's Esteban Gutierrez endured a spin at Blanchimont.
Max Chilton returned to the wheel of his Marussia after his team previosuly dropped him for the race in favour of Alexander Rossi, who took over the drive in morning free practice. A late burst of pace from the Brit saw him climb to 18th position.
F1 debutant Andre Lotterer recorded 48 trouble free laps behind the wheel of his Caterham ending the day just shy of his team-mate Marcus Ericsson in 20th spot.
Belgian Grand Prix Free Practice 1 Results
Position | Driver | Team | Time | Gap | Laps |
1 | Nico Rosberg | Mercedes | 1:51.577s | 25 | |
2 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 1:51.674s | +0.097s | 24 |
3 | Fernando Alonso | Ferrari | 1:51.805s | +0.228s | 16 |
4 | Jenson Button | McLaren-Mercedes | 1:52.404s | +0.827s | 21 |
5 | Kimi Raikkonen | Ferrari | 1:52.818s | +1.241s | 17 |
6 | Sergio Perez | Force India-Mercedes | 1:52.903s | +1.326s | 24 |
7 | Kevin Magnussen | McLaren-Mercedes | 1:52.922s | +1.345s | 23 |
8 | Nico Hulkenberg | Force India-Mercedes | 1:52.937s | +1.360s | 22 |
9 | Daniel Ricciardo | Red Bull-Renault | 1:52.972s | +1.395s | 19 |
10 | Valtteri Bottas | Williams-Mercedes | 1:53.172s | +1.595s | 20 |
11 | Sebastian Vettel | Red Bull-Renault | 1:53.369s | +1.792s | 11 |
12 | Daniil Kvyat | Toro Rosso-Renault | 1:53.594s | +2.017s | 21 |
13 | Romain Grosjean | Lotus-Renault | 1:53.597s | +2.020s | 20 |
14 | Adrian Sutil | Sauber-Ferrari | 1:53.703s | +2.126s | 14 |
15 | Felipe Massa | Williams-Mercedes | 1:53.968s | +2.391s | 20 |
16 | Jean-Eric Vergne | Toro Rosso-Renault | 1:54.189s | +2.612s | 20 |
17 | Giedo van der Garde | Sauber-Ferrari | 1:54.335s | +2.758s | 16 |
18 | Pastor Maldonado | Lotus-Renault | 1:55.336s | +3.759s | 21 |
19 | Jules Bianchi | Marussia-Ferrari | 1:55.782s | +4.205s | 19 |
20 | Alexander Rossi | Marussia-Ferrari | 1:57.232s | +5.655s | 20 |
21 | Andre Lotterer | Caterham-Renault | 1:57.886s | +6.309s | 24 |
22 | Marcus Ericsson | Caterham-Renault | 1:57.977s | +6.400s | 24 |
Belgian Grand Prix Free Practice 2 Results
Position | Driver | Team | Time | Gap | Laps |
1 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 1:49.189s | 26 | |
2 | Nico Rosberg | Mercedes | 1:49.793s | +0.604s | 28 |
3 | Fernando Alonso | Ferrari | 1:49.930s | +0.741s | 19 |
4 | Felipe Massa | Williams-Mercedes | 1:50.327s | +1.138s | 24 |
5 | Jenson Button | McLaren-Mercedes | 1:50.659s | +1.470s | 31 |
6 | Valtteri Bottas | Williams-Mercedes | 1:50.677s | +1.488s | 26 |
7 | Daniil Kvyat | Toro Rosso-Renault | 1:50.725s | +1.536s | 25 |
8 | Daniel Ricciardo | Red Bull-Renault | 1:50.977s | +1.788s | 16 |
9 | Kevin Magnussen | McLaren-Mercedes | 1:51.074s | +1.885s | 31 |
10 | Nico Hulkenberg | Force India-Mercedes | 1:51.077s | +1.888s | 26 |
11 | Jean-Eric Vergne | Toro Rosso-Renault | 1:51.383s | +2.194s | 26 |
12 | Adrian Sutil | Sauber-Ferrari | 1:51.450s | +2.261s | 29 |
13 | Sergio Perez | Force India-Mercedes | 1:51.573s | +2.384s | 28 |
14 | Romain Grosjean | Lotus-Renault | 1:52.196s | +3.007s | 25 |
15 | Kimi Raikkonen | Ferrari | 1:52.234s | +3.045s | 18 |
16 | Jules Bianchi | Marussia-Ferrari | 1:52.776s | +3.587s | 23 |
17 | Esteban Gutierrez | Sauber-Ferrari | 1:53.955s | +4.766s | 7 |
18 | Max Chilton | Marussia-Ferrari | 1:54.040s | +4.851s | 18 |
19 | Marcus Ericsson | Caterham-Renault | 1:54.050s | +4.861s | 30 |
20 | Andre Lotterer | Caterham-Renault | 1:54.093s | +4.904s | 24 |
21 | Pastor Maldonado | Lotus-Renault | no time | 2 | |
22 | Sebastian Vettel | Red Bull-Renault | no time |