Lance Stroll and Sergio Perez Endure Dramatic Practice Sessions

Formula One finally got back into the action with free practice for the Belgian Grand Prix. However, there was a bit of drama for the Racing Point duo of Lance Stroll and Sergio Perez. During FP1, the engine cover of Stroll’s car nearly disintegrated, leaving the insides of the car exposed.

Later, in FP2, Perez reported fire in his cockpit, before pulling over to a halt. The Mexican revealed that the source of the fire still eludes them, but admits it is “not looking too optimistic.”

The fiery engine deals a blow to Racing Point and by extension, Mercedes, who introduced its latest engine upgrade at Spa.

Perez revealed: “We don’t know at the moment, we’ll just have to wait and see.”

“It doesn’t look good – we’ll see what’s going to happen and what we have to do in order to get it back in qualifying.”

“The car is performing well so hopefully we can minimise the damage, If there is any. We’ll find out later on.”

Up until that moment, the Mexican driver was in a strong position for Racing Point, but still managed to end up fifth in FP2.

“I think historically it’s been a circuit that suits us,” he explained. “We’ve brought a front wing and new things that suit us, we’ve brought a front wing and a couple of new pieces that I think is helping the whole balance of the car. We found a good balance today and things are looking very solid.”

However, he elected to remain positive even in the face of near disaster. According to him, things are looking strong, so they should have a positive weekend. However, there is still a lot of work to do, especially with the engine nearly burnt to a crisp.

He concluded, “It’s getting there, step-by-step so yeah it’s looking promising, so hopefully we can be strong tomorrow when everybody puts it together.”