Mercedes remained relatively under the radar during the first practice session of the Belgian Grand Prix weekend, but the team emerged strongly in Friday’s FP2 at Spa-Francorchamps through Kimi Antonelli. The Italian driver established himself as a favourite for victory after setting the fastest time and finishing more than one second ahead of George Russell, who was still struggling to find his best feeling with the W17.
Kimi Antonelli targets victory after major Mercedes changes
The championship leader looked like the driver in the strongest form on Friday in Belgium. Kimi Antonelli set the fastest time in FP2, finishing almost two tenths ahead of Lando Norris in the McLaren and nearly half a second clear of Max Verstappen in the Red Bull.
“We made big changes to the car and it was much better, so the direction is good,” Kimi Antonelli said of the Mercedes set-up adjustments between the two Friday sessions. “Obviously, there is still a lot of work to do as a team and also from my side in terms of driving, but it was definitely a much better session than the previous one and now I am looking forward to tomorrow.”
The early running of the weekend suggested that Kimi Antonelli is currently the driver to beat. The Italian driver also made clear that his objective is to return to the top step of the podium, having gone three races without a win.
“A win is the target? Yes, of course. Silverstone was a great weekend, but I came away with no points, which obviously hurt a lot. But here is a new challenge and the target is to maximise every session, every time I get in the car, and then maximise the result too. Today went well, but there is still a lot of work to do ahead of tomorrow.”
Mercedes’ stronger FP2 form came after the team refined its approach to the Spa layout, where it has also introduced a W17 front-wing update for greater straight-line efficiency.
George Russell explains difficult Friday at Spa
George Russell, meanwhile, has not yet found his confidence at Spa, often referred to as Formula 1’s university because of its demanding layout. The British driver operated at a very different level to Kimi Antonelli on Friday, struggling to find the right feeling behind the wheel. George Russell finished FP2 in eighth place, 1.2 seconds behind his Mercedes team-mate.
“We did not have the smoothest Friday here at Spa,” George Russell said after the first day of running. “We overestimated the grip levels in FP1 and that meant our initial configuration was not in the right window. We struggled with the car balance and, even though we managed to learn something, it was not the ideal way to start the weekend.”
Mercedes also made changes to George Russell’s car between the two Friday sessions. “We worked hard before FP2 and made some changes that improved things. There is still more lap time that we can find, especially over one lap, and we will try to do that overnight. Our long run was more competitive, and that encourages us for Saturday and Sunday.”
Andrew Shovlin highlights the importance of race pace
The issues with Mercedes’ starting set-up were also confirmed by Andrew Shovlin, the team’s Trackside Engineering Director. “There was less grip in FP1 than we expected, and that meant the car was too low on downforce in the first hour on track. The drivers struggled with a sensitive car, without the confidence needed to achieve lap time. Both George Russell and Kimi Antonelli worked with a difficult car in order to have the right direction for FP2.”
Mercedes heads into Saturday at Spa with confidence. “The changes we made between the sessions did their job and the car was in a better place. Kimi Antonelli was able to improve on the soft tyres to set the fastest times and, although George Russell ended the day in eighth position, that does not reflect his level. There are areas where he will improve his time during the weekend.”
“The competitive picture looks close, as it has in recent editions. Our target is to always have both cars at the front. The long runs looked solid and, at Spa, race pace is by far the most important aspect.” Mercedes had already identified Spa as a significant benchmark, with Toto Wolff warning that the circuit would be a major test for Mercedes.
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