Leclerc vs Verstappen telemetry comparison and race sims for top ten in FP2 | 2022 Belgian GP. Race sims for top ten in FP2.

Charles Leclerc vs Max Verstappen, single lap comparison:

Massive time gap between the top two in the final FP2 standings.
Just like in the first free practice session, Charles Leclerc still has the drops in speed at T1 and T7, although this time it’s not there at the bus stop chicane (6500m).
Max Verstappen much stronger in S2 here, dialed in the setup from FP1, basically gains 0.5s just between T7-T10 which were a weak point for Charles even in the first free practice, also in T13-14-15 it seems like the Monegasque is going a bit slower.
Charles Leclerc lost another 0.1s at the final chicane.
All in all it seems aside from probably what is minimal difference in engine mode for S1 and S2, in S2 Ferrari either just couldn’t use the tires well enough, maybe too cold or the dampness made them slower and harder to find grip, or Ferrari had more fuel on board since the primary area of loss aren’t so much fast corners like Pouhon, but quick succession corners.

Race sims:

The red flag, as well as rain and drizzle before it made it so that race sims were kind of a wash, the only three drivers to put together something were George Russell, Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen. Everyone else did basically three laps of which half of them were in damp conditions.

This means that there’s not a lot to be said here about the relative performance, it doesn’t look like the soft is degrading too much, as evident by both Charles Leclerc and George Russell’s pace compared to Max Verstappen. Hard to know what happens with warmer temperatures on Sunday anyway.

Show your support for Scuderia Ferrari with official merchandise collection from Puma! Enter the online Puma Store and shop securely! And get your F1 tickets for every race with VIP hospitality and unparalleled insider access. Click here for the best offers to support Charles and Carlos from the track!

Red Bull’s Dutchman made a comment about his front tire being dead towards the last laps of his race sim for what it’s worth, but there’s not a ton of deg in the laps sub 1:55 and I think his 1:57 was due to rain.

We can’t really tell what’s going to happen, judging by the conditions on Friday, Red Bull seems to have a bit of an edge, if the damp conditions stay like this for quali they might have an advantage, it all depends on whether it was actually fuel load that caused the difference in 1 lap time or tire temperature.