Mercedes has elected to ditch the new floor the team introduced at this weekend’s Formula 1 Belgian Grand Prix amid concerns over how the part worked in practice. The aggressive development scheme that has propelled the German marque back to the sharp end has continued at Spa-Francorchamps with several declared parts.

However, Mercedes experienced an underwhelming outing in the opening two practice hours as Lewis Hamilton rued balance struggles en route to 10th place in FP2.