The McLaren duo displayed strong single lap pace with Norris two-tenths clear at the top of the timesheets.

McLaren opened its session on soft tyres with the Brit and mediums for Piastri, completing some low fuel running.

It left Norris second fastest, a tenth slower than Verstappen’s 1:43.456s which topped the timesheets in the opening 10 minutes.

Running the step-harder tyres than this team-mate, Piastri was the better part of three-tenths slower in the early stages, and a tenth back from the Mercedes pair who’d shown promising pace in opening practice.

The Australian then shot to the top of the timesheets with his qualifying simulation run despite not being fastest through any of the three sectors.

Norris toppled his team-mate’s effort to record a 1:42.260s, the fastest through the final two-thirds of the lap.

It was an important lap as it showed the McLaren was not only fast in a straight line and the low-downforce sections, but through the more technical middle segment too.

Verstappen was quick out of the gates as the session begun, seemingly running on low fuel in the opening minutes despite running on medium tyres.

Just shy of the midway point of the session, he headed out on a performance run.

Even with a personal best through the first sector and fastest of anyone through the middle third, he was only second best to Piastri, by 0.002s.

The time loss suggested the Red Bull Racing driver was carrying more wing, given his pace through the middle sector where outright speed is, comparatively, less important.

However, with Verstappen set to take a 10-place grid penalty, single lap pace was less critical than getting the car set-up so the Dutchman can race through traffic on Sunday.

A qualifying simulation from Carlos Sainz moved Ferrari to the top of the timesheets with a 1:43.098s after 23 minutes.

The Spaniard had been fifth fastest, around seven-tenths back from the session’s best to that point which translated to a nine-tenth improvement.

Third fastest for Charles Leclerc after his qualifying simulation was a promising result, placing the Scuderia ahead of both Mercedes at the halfway point – though Hamilton had not recorded a push lap to that point.

It marked an improvement from Free Practice 1, where Ferrari was a step behind McLaren and Mercedes, while Red Bull Racing was clear at the front – at least on a race run.

Haas demonstrated perfectly the difference between two common approaches to Spa, with Kevin Magnussen and Nico Hulkenberg on different downforce levels.

Magnussen had a higher downforce level, an option that benefitted him through the middle third of the lap and saw him rise to fifth (before slipping down the order).

By contrast, Hulkenberg had a lower downforce level that should have offered an advantage on the long flat-out segments in the first and third sectors.

However, a lack of traction out of La Source and overheated tyres by the end of the lap – a result of sliding more though the middle third – made for a three-tenth deficit to his team-mate.

Ferrari showed better pace than it had done earlier in the day, with Charles Leclerc ending Free Practice 2 fourth, one place better than Carlos Sainz.

A qualifying simulation from Sainz pushed Ferrari to the top of the timesheets with a 1:43.098s after 23 minutes.

The Spaniard had been fifth fastest, his single lap run a nine-tenth improvement over his previous best.

Third fastest for Leclerc after his qualifying simulation was a promising result, placing the Scuderia pilot ahead of both Mercedes, even after slipping to fourth by the chequered flag.

It marked an improvement from Free Practice 1, where Ferrari was a step behind McLaren and Mercedes, while Red Bull Racing was clear at the front – at least on a race run.

Mercedes was less impressive than it had been earlier in the day, George Russell a second slower than Norris while Lewis Hamilton made a mistake and then encountered traffic on his low fuel run.

Further down pit lane, the water leak that curtailed Esteban Ocon’s opening practice session had been resolved and the Frenchman was among the first out on track, logging 23 laps during the session to end it seventh.

Daniel Ricciardo was 14th fastest when it came to single lap pace, though his session was curtailed when he reported a “wobbly” car, diagnosing it as a potentially broken roll bar.

It had comparatively little impact on his session, having completed 18 laps to that point, He was able to get back out on track just prior to the chequered flag to complete a practice start from the grid.

A 40 percent chance of rain threatened the session, though it remained dry (if cloudy) throughout.

Rain is expected for Saturday, a development that complicates the weekend for teams and prompted a busy end to Free Practice 2.

It saw all 20 runners on track on the soft tyres, which had not proven itself to be a strong option for the race, though teams burning them up to save the mediums and hards for deeper into the weekend.

Degradation on the hard tyres looked minimal, the challenge for teams to understand the merits of both ahead of the race – with little meaningful running expected.

That rain is poised to arrive in time for final practice on Saturday, with a strong chance of it hanging around for qualifying.

Free Practice 3 begins at Spa-Francorchamps  at 12:30 local time (21:30 AEST).