Belgian Grand Prix – Racing Point’s Lance Stroll says a FOM electrical box behind his race seat caused some burning discomfort during practice.

Lance Stroll finished P8 in FP2 after Friday’s practice running, with both Racing Points cars solidly in the top ten having looked competitive from the get go.

However, it wasn’t a completely straightforward day. Stroll had his engine cover disintegrate along the Kemmel Straight during FP1, requiring him to pit for a new one, while a burning sensation caused him discomfort during FP2.

Radioing in halfway through the session, he said he could feel burning coming from behind him, as well as smelling it. He came back in to allow the team to investigate.

Explaining afterwards, he said: “One of the FOM electrical boxes behind the seat got unusually hot. I don’t think I ever mentioned fire, there was no fire, but there was some burning behind my seat. You never know with those things but there was no flames thankfully.”

With Sergio Perez finishing P5, it was a good day for Racing Point in terms of speed, and Stroll says that the engine penalty he faces for Sunday’s race might not be the end of the world: “It is what it is, at least here you can overtake. I got a good feel for the car on the long run so I’m not too bothered by the penalty. We’ll be able to overtake during the race for sure.”

“The car feels quite good and it’s one of the better Fridays we’ve had this season so that’s always promising. I’m looking forward to the race on Sunday, I’m quite confident we can have a good race here.”

Asked about whether the team might employ some unusual tactics for qualifying, such as slipstreaming each other, Stroll said it’s irrelevant as the concentration will be on setting up for the race: “I think we’re going to be taking a big hit regardless of what we do. We’ll still do what we can during qualifying but the main focus will be setting the car up for the race and trying to get as many overtakes done during the race as possible.”