With nothing to gain on the track, or times from rivals to chase down, Hamilton was free to focus on Sunday’s race.
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Raikkonen, a four-time victor at Spa, made a slight mistake on each of his Q3 runs to leave him 0.166s adrift of Rosberg’s time, meaning the Finn will start Sunday’s Belgian Grand Prix from third on the grid, behind Max Verstappen and Rosberg.
“We had a hard weekend up to now, especially this morning; we were seriously off the pace on one lap”, explained the championship hopeful.
Ferrari driver Kimi Raikkonen of Finland steers his vehicle through a corner during the second practice session at the Belgian Formula One Grand Prix circuit in Spa-Francorchamps, Belgium, Friday, Aug. 26, 2016.
“We got the job done in the end”, Rosberg, who came seventh in the final practice session, told reporters.
Pole-sitter Nico Rosberg says Mercedes rose to the challenge after being off the pace ahead of qualifying for the Belgian GP.
On another hot day in the Ardennes, 31-year-old Briton Hamilton took his third new power-unit of the weekend – increasing his grid penalty to at least 55 places ahead of Sunday’s race – and concentrated on race set-up until he delivered one final flurry of pace on super-soft tyres to outpace Rosberg.
“On a positive side, we are very close compared to the last couple of races”.
Meanwhile, Max Verstappen, who was born in Belgium but races under the Dutch flag, failed to set a time after encountering a gearbox problem. I’m very pleased to be second in front of my fans. “It’s a great motivation when you see them next to the track”, said the Dutchman, who won on his Red Bull debut in Spain.
Daniel Ricciardo separated the Finn from his Ferrari team-mate Sebastian Vettel, who was 0.323secs back in third, while Valtteri Bottas went fourth fastest.
Not for the first time this season, Vettel turned the air blue with a furious rant over the team radio. Previously, Hamilton changed several engine units, which accounted for a 30 place grid penalty.
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His teammate, Jenson Button, was ninth, highlighting what could have been.
