Spa-Francorchamps: Spa veteran Kimi Raikkonen kept Ferrari on top of the Belgian Grand Prix practice time sheets on Friday, just ahead of Formula One world championship leader Lewis Hamilton’s Mercedes.
Finnish driver Raikkonen, four times a winner at one of the most exhilarating and daunting tracks on the calendar and chasing the 100th podium finish of his career on Sunday, produced a time of 1 minute 43.355 seconds under leaden skies.
Hamilton was 0.168 seconds off the pace, with Finnish team mate Valtteri Bottas — who will start the race from the back of the grid because of engine penalties — third fastest.
Raikkonen’s teammate Sebastian Vettel had been top in the morning session — the first since the three-week August break — in 1:44.358. The German, 24 points behind fellow four times champion Hamilton with nine of 21 races remaining, was fifth in the afternoon.
— Reuters
