Quick reply from the RB garage to Daniel Ricciardo's hydraulics problem - they can't see any issues with the data.

Meanwhile, the rain is now coming down heavier and visibility out on track is decreasing. Oscar Piastri is told by McLaren to expect this latest blast of rain to last 10 minutes.

Daniel Ricciardo is finding not just the slick surface tough, but the handling of his car, too. The Australian tells his RB pit wall he feels like he is "losing the hydraulics". His engineer tells him they'll investigate.

Harry Benjamin
BBC F1 Commentator

Image source, Getty Images

Anyone behind a car is going to get no visibility whatsoever.

These are tricky conditions to get to grips with.

A few cars have headed out on to the slippery circuit on a mixture of intermediates and full wet-weather tyres. RB then radio Daniel Ricciardo to say a "big chunk of rain" is on the way in about 10 minutes.

BBC Sounds

Rosanna Tennant, Harry Benjamin and Marc Priestley are at the top of the page if you want to listen to rain chat now - just click the 'listen live' tab.

Commentary is also available via most smart speakers. Just ask BBC Sounds to play Belgian Grand Prix practice three to tune in.

How much soggy track action will we see in third practice?

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It's supposed to be summer!

All the best to the fans sitting on the hill in these wet conditions - extra house points to those who came prepared with a camping chair.

Ponchos and brollies as far as the eye can see at Spa.

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Max Verstappen is not the only driver who has to pack up his belongings and vacate his qualifying spot for Sunday's race.

Yuki Tsunoda is heading all the way back to the Austrian Grand Prix, as the RB driver has been hit with a whopping grid penalty for the Belgium Grand Prix.

RB have changed a host of engine components on the Japanese driver's car, including a fifth ICE and turbocharger, which accumulates to an effective 60-place grid drop.

Luckily for Tsunoda, he'll only have to start from the back of the field.

Andrew Benson
BBC F1 correspondent

Mercedes are taking off their new floor and reverting to the previous specification after struggling on Friday. With wet weather forecast for qualifying day at the Belgian Grand Prix, the team decided it was better to eliminate a variable and analyse Friday’s data after Spa.

And it’s started raining again with 10 minutes until final practice.

Image source, F1

George Russell and Lewis Hamilton placed inside the top 10 in second practice but there is maybe more to come from seven-time world champion Hamilton, who was hit by traffic on his second run on the soft tyres.

The Belgian Grand Prix weekend is also a big test for Sergio Perez in the other Red Bull. The Mexican's seat with the team has come under scrutiny after a difficult run of form and yesterday he fed back issues, with the car both oversteering and understeering at various points in the first hour.

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It was a McLaren one-two in second practice as Lando Norris set the pace ahead of team-mate Oscar Piastri with a time of 1:42.260 on the soft tyre.

Norris, who finished second to Piastri in Hungary a week after a lengthy team orders debate, was 0.215 seconds faster than the Australian, with Red Bull's Max Verstappen ending his second hour third on the timesheets on the same compound as two McLarens.

However, Verstappen did clock the best time on the medium tyre with a 1:43.339.

Ferrari's Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz completed the top five, while Esteban Ocon was back up and running for Alpine and finished his first full session in seventh place.

Ian Fergusson
BBC weather forecaster

Albeit some light rain is imminent at the circuit temporarily, the bulk of more widespread incoming showery rain approaching from the SW is now ~15km away.

ETA from about 12:32 local, FIA forecasters have advised the teams.

Esteban Ocon completed one lap in his Alpine before his session came to a premature end with a suspected water leak. The Frenchman had to watch the rest of the session from the comfort of the garage, losing a chunk of practice time on the dry track.

Image source, F1

Image source, Getty Images

The impeding penalty was put to one side by Max Verstappen in the opening hour of practice as the reigning world champion topped the timesheets in 1:44.372 on the soft tyre.

Hungarian Grand Prix winner Oscar Piastri was 0.531 seconds behind Verstappen while Alex Albon put his Williams into the top three, both using the same C4 compound as the Red Bull driver.

The Mercedes of George Russell and Lewis Hamilton finished fourth and fifth but both drivers highlighted issues with their upgraded car: Russell saying he had "no rear at all" and Hamilton experienced excessive "bouncing".

Image source, Getty Images

Max Verstappen knew it was coming.

On Thursday, the three-time world champion said it was "likely" he would take an engine penalty at the Belgium circuit after losing a power unit at the Canadian Grand Prix in June.

With Spa offering decent overtaking opportunities, the Red Bull driver will be dropping 10 places down the grid for Sunday's 44-lap race after taking his fifth internal combustion engine (ICE) - exceeding his allocated number of power units for the season.

Last year, Verstappen took a five-place grid penalty for using too many gearbox parts. He qualified on pole position, started in P6 and won the race.

But that was when the car was all-conquering.

The drivers and team personnel arrived at Spa with umbrellas down, but the sky above the circuit does look grey and overcast - and now it's started raining.

For qualifying this afternoon, the graphic below is showing some thundery showers could be on the horizon, with FIA risk of rain currently at 80%.

BBC weather forecaster Ian Fergusson says: "Risk of rain will now increase as we head towards and into the FP3 window. Expect uptick in rainfall rates towards that period."

Image source, .

Image source, Reuters

Hello, folks. The weather radars will be examined closely on every pit wall as we build-up to Saturday's qualifying, as the risk of rain is gradually increasing.

It won't, however, be as heavy as the absolute hosing the Olympics opening ceremony received in Paris last night.

Third practice gets under way at 11:30 BST.

Qualifying - whether it be wet or dry - goes green at 15:00.

Commentary is online-only for today, so you need to click the 'listen live' tab at the top of the page to tune in. You can also listen via most smart speakers. Just ask BBC Sounds to play Belgian Grand Prix, followed by 'practice three' for this session, and then 'qualifying' later on.

Welcome back to Rosanna Tennant, Harry Benjamin and former McLaren mechanic Marc Priestley.

The fans around Spa-Francorchamps yesterday were treated to pleasant conditions during Friday's first and second practice sessions.

Can we expect the same again today for the fight for pole position?

Hmmm. Not quite...

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