Nico Rosberg was fastest during both free practice sessions at Spa-Francorchamps today, however his day ended unexpectedly early after he suffered a rear tire failure and slid across the track, coming to rest on the approach to Blanchimont.
A rear closeup of Rosberg’s tire showed it become frayed on the inside just before it exploded and nearly sent the Silver Arrow into the tires. Rosberg was able to put in 19 laps before the incident, with his fastest, and the fastest lap of the day, being 1:49.385. Teammate Lewis Hamilton was 0.302s second fastest with a 1:49.687, and Daniel Ricciardo and Daniil Kvyat rounded out the top five with laps of 1:50.136 and 1:50.399, respectively.
Watch Rosberg’s narrow brush with the tire barriers at Spa in the video above. Hopefully the near-shunt doesn’t have an affect on his pace come Saturday afternoon, when he and Hamilton will be looking to qualify on the front row to gain early track position on Ferrari, Red Bull, Force India and Williams.
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