Lando Norris continued his perfect start to his home race weekend by once again topping the timesheets in practice, leading home a McLaren 1-2 in FP2.
Here’s how the second practice session played out.
Teams were eager to start Free Practice 2 quickly to maximize dry running time as there was a high chance of rain falling at some point in the session. Most drivers began on medium tires, and Max Verstappen set an early benchmark for Red Bull with a lap of 1m 27.831s. Meanwhile, Charles Leclerc had a slight mishap through Maggots and Becketts, running wide off the track.
Aston Martin, struggling the previous weekend in Austria, showed promise in Silverstone practice. Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll both featured near the top of the timesheets during FP2, building on Stroll’s P2 result from the first practice session.
As drivers shifted focus to quick lap runs, Norris, the fastest in FP1, clocked a 1m 26.549s by the session’s midpoint. However, a minor off-track moment led him to request a floor check for his McLaren.
Towards the end of the session, RB’s Daniel Ricciardo was cautioned about approaching rain, which influenced various run plans. Despite the approaching moisture, many drivers continued their race simulations until the session’s conclusion.
Rain indeed arrived in the final minutes, but Norris held onto P1, finishing 0.331s ahead of Piastri. Perez secured third as the top Red Bull, especially impressive seeing as his sat out FP1 to make way for the rookie Isack Hadjar. Perez was followed closely by Haas’s Nico Hulkenberg in a strong fourth place. Future teammates Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton were fifth and sixth for Ferrari and Mercedes respectively.
Verstappen ended in P7, with Sainz in P8, Stroll in P9, and George Russell rounding out the top-10 for Mercedes. Alonso narrowly missed the top-10, placing 11th, just ahead of Valtteri Bottas in P12 for Kick Sauber.
Alex Albon finished 13th for Williams, which featured a special Union Jack livery for the event. The Alpine duo of Pierre Gasly and Esteban Ocon followed in 14th and 15th. Gasly is set to start Sunday’s race from the back due to a new power unit.
Yuki Tsunoda returned after his FP1 gravel spin, placing 16th for RB, ahead of Williams’ Logan Sargeant, Kick Sauber’s Zhou Guanyu, Ricciardo in the RB, and Kevin Magnussen for Haas.
The first day of the British Grand Prix weekend has been perfect for Lando and is so far looking very promising for his McLaren team and the home fans.
Results
FP2 results:
- Lando Norris McLaren 1:26.549
- Oscar Piastri McLaren +0.331
- Sergio Perez Red Bull +0.434
- Nico Hulkenberg Haas +0.441
- Charles Leclerc Ferrari +0.601
- Lewis Hamilton Mercedes +0.653
- Max Verstappen Red Bull +0.684
- Carlos Sainz Ferrari +0.700
- Lance Stroll Aston Martin +0.725
- George Russell Mercedes +0.745
- Fernando Alonso Aston Martin +0.823
- Valtteri Bottas Sauber +0.832
- Alex Albon Williams +1.096
- Pierre Gasly Alpine +1.183
- Esteban Ocon Alpine +1.194
- Yuki Tsunoda RB +1.196
- Logan Sargeant Williams +1.260
- Zhou Guanyu Sauber +1.264
- Daniel Ricciardo RB +1.367
- Kevin Magnussen Haas +1.573
