F1: Verstappen stays on top in Practice 2 for British GP

–by Mark Cipolloni–

Picking up where he left this morning in Practice 1, Max Verstappen turned a fast lap of 1m28.078s to top the 2nd practice session for the British GP Formula 1 race.

Last year’s British GP winner, Carlos Sainz Jr., was 2nd fastest, just 0.022s behind.

Alex Albon was a surprise 3rd for Williams (+0.218s) and his teammate, American rookie Logan Sargeant was 5th (+0.688s), putting two Williams in the top-5.

Imagine that!

Sergio Perez in the 2nd Red Bull Honda was 4th, 0.264s behind.

Lance Stroll’s fastest time was good enough to put him sixth.

Late in the session, most drivers turned to race simulation runs.

The two Mercedes drivers, George Russell and Lewis Hamilton, were sandbagging down in 12th and 15th

Charles Leclerc did not set a time after an electrical issue the team could not fix in time.

“I think it was quite a good day for us,” said Verstappen.

“It was a little slippery in the beginning, but that’s due to the high pressures that we are running on the tires. Of course, that is the same for everyone, but it makes it a bit more difficult in the low speed.

“I think, in general, the car has been performing really well so we can be happy with that. The performance has also been strong in both sessions and we could complete our program.

“The long runs felt good as well so it’s pretty positive. From our side we want to improve the car ahead of qualifying tomorrow, but overall, it’s been a strong day.”

“It was a challenging Friday here in Silverstone,” said Carlos Sainz Jr.

“FP1 was quite tricky because of the wind and the track conditions, but we completed a good program and I think this helped us make good progress in FP2.

“We need to keep working on tire management and race pace. This should be our main point of focus going into tomorrow, as today we could see that over one lap we were not too bad. Overall, we are quite happy with today, but of course, there’s still some work to do.”

Carlos Sainz Jr. at Silverstone – credit: @Scuderia Ferrari Press Office

Practice 2 Results

POS DRIVER NAT. TEAM TIME BEHIND LAPS
1 Max Verstappen NED Oracle Red Bull Racing 1m28.078s  +0.000s 27
2 Carlos Sainz ESP Scuderia Ferrari 1m28.100s +0.022s 29
3 Alex Albon THA Williams Racing 1m28.296s +0.218s 30
4 Sergio Perez MEX Oracle Bull Racing 1m28.342s +0.264s 30
5 Logan Sargeant USA Williams Racing 1m28.766s +0.688s 29
6 Lance Stroll CAN Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant 1m28.886s +0.788s 30
7 Nico Hulkenberg GER MoneyGram Haas F1 Team 1m28.880s +0.802s 28
8 Pierre Gasly FRA BWT Alpine F1 Team 1m28.889s +0.811s 27
9 Oscar Piastri AUS McLaren F1 Team 1m28.926s +0.848s 29
10 Fernando Alonso ESP Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant 1m29.134s +1.056s 26
11 Zhou Guanyu CHN Alfa Romeo F1 Team Stake 1m29.225s +1.147s 28
12 George Russell GBR Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team 1m29.238s +1.160s 25
13 Esteban Ocon FRA BWT Alpine F1 Team 1m29.242s +1.164s 24
14 Lando Norris GBR McLaren F1 Team 1m29.260s +1.182s 24
15 Lewis Hamilton GBR Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team 1m29.283s +1.205s 24
16 Valtteri Bottas FIN Alfa Romeo F1 Team Stake 1m29.378s +1.300s 28
17 Kevin Magnussen DEN MoneyGram Haas F1 Team 1m29.439s +1.361s 20
18 Yuki Tsunoda JPN Scuderia AlphaTauri 1m29.483s +1.405s 25
19 Nyck de Vries NED Scuderia AlphaTauri 1m29.571s +1.493s 29
20 Charles Leclerc MON Scuderia Ferrari No Time Set