Verstappen: Still more to come from Red Bull

The 18-year-old grew up just 50 miles from the Spa-Francorchamps circuit and was cheered on by a large Dutch contingent as he set the fastest time with a 1:48.085. He finished the session in 20th, two tenths of a second slower than team-mate Kevin Magnussen.

It was the third time in Verstappen’s brief Formula One career that he had topped the session times and did so in front of thousands of supporters camping under the trees in the unexpected heat-wave conditions.

“Compared to other competitors, we showed great pace today”, Verstappen said.

“I never dream”, he said. I’m sure we can improve even more, but we have to wait and see what the others are doing.

Whilst team principal Christian Horner knows it’s unlikely they’ll find themselves ahead when it comes to qualifying on Saturday, he insists it would be wrong for them to interfere if Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappen found themselves in a battle for the lead.

Lewis Hamilton took an altogether different approach to Friday practice in the knowledge that he will be hit with a big grid penalty after qualifying.

‘It’ll be interesting to see how that plays out in the race.

“Everybody was struggling to make the tires last and sliding quite a lot”, said Ferrari driver Sebastian Vettel, the fourth quickest in second practice.

“I’m not entirely happy, as you can see”, said Vettel. “This track is not easy to set up the auto with the long straights but then also the fast inner section, so I was finding my way a bit”.

‘But there’s definitely some improvements we can make on the auto.

He was quicker than fellow Mercedes-backed team mate Pascal Wehrlein in the morning but the German, who has been with Manor since the start of the season, regained the initiative in the afternoon.

The Haas pair of Romain Grosjean and Esteban Gutierrez enjoyed a strong run, finishing eighth and 10th, sandwiching McLaren’s Jenson Button.

Hamilton is not the only driver set for a grid penalty at Spa, as Sauber’s Marcus Ericsson faces a 10-place sanction for a similar engine infringement, while McLaren’s Fernando Alonso was forced to change his upgraded engine after it developed a leak.

Hamilton took a 15-place grid penalty in Friday’s morning practice session for having changed too many engine parts this season, and was then handed a further 15-place penalty following another component change in the afternoon.

Hamilton knows he is facing a “damage limitation” weekend and that Rosberg will nearly certainly eat into his 19-point championship lead on Sunday.