The China Mail - Norris heads Piastri in McLaren one-two at Belgian GP practice

The duo, who secured a front row lockout in qualifying at last Sunday's Hungarian Grand Prix, set the pace again ahead of series leader and three-time champion Max Verstappen of Red Bull.

The Dutchman faces taking a 10-place grid penalty for Sunday's race after his team fitted him with a new engine, taking him beyond the permitted limit of four units for the season.

Norris clocked a best lap in one minute and 42.260 seconds to outpace Piastri by 0.215 seconds and Verstappen by 0.217, meaning they were separated by only 0.002 seconds after lapping the 7.004-kms circuit, the longest on the calendar.

In cooling conditions, with rain threatening, the Ferraris of Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz were fourth and fifth ahead of George Russell of Mercedes and Alpine's Esteban Ocon, who it was announced Thursday will switch to Haas next year.

Kevin Magnussen was eighth in his Haas ahead of Sergio Perez of Red Bull and seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton in the second Mercedes.

After his successful exploits in opening practice, which he topped with some ease, Verstappen was out swiftly for FP2 on mediums to set a marker lap in 1:43.456 as Perez joined him on the pace, back in third, separated from the champion by Hamilton.

To the delight of his fans, Alpine's Ocon joined the fray, having missed most of the earlier action due to a suspected water leak.

Verstappen improved his time as the McLarens began to reel him in, but it was Sainz, in his Ferrari, who leapt to the top of the timing monitor in 1:43.098 before Piastri moved six-tenths clear.

"Might just need to check the floor," reported the Melburnian driver, who claimed his maiden F1 victory in Hungary. "Turned into a skateboarder at Turn Seven…"

Piastri was soon displaced by his team-mate Lando Norris, in 1:42.260, giving them a one-two again, with the Australian adrift by two-tenths, but 0.002 clear of the Dutchman.

After two aborted attempts on softs, Hamilton could manage no better than 10th on his third flying lap with Russell in sixth behind the Ferraris, a below-expectations effort from Mercedes as they switched to race runs.

For Hamilton, who counts the majestic high-speed Ardennes circuit as one of his favourites, it was a discouraging day as he sought a set-up for Sunday's race, which is expected to be run in dry conditions after a wet qualifying day on Saturday.

D.Peng--ThChM