BRITISH GP – Lando Norris leads a McLaren one-two three tenths faster than Oscar Piastri in second practice
Lando Norris was fastest in second practice for this weekend’s British Grand Prix, the McLaren driver set a 26.549 on the soft tyres to go three-tenths faster than teammate Oscar Piastri. The Englishman set his fastest time midway through the session, later than most of his rivals, going ahead of his teammate on the soft tyres.
Norris’s lap pushed Piastri off the top of the top spot after briefly held the fastest time. His bounce back from his collision with Max Verstappen last weekend, has got off to the perfect start he was nine-tenths faster than he managed during FP1 with Sergio Perez a tenth further behind Piastri in third.
Nico Hulkenberg put in a brilliant lap for Haas going fourth, the German driver less than a hundredth behind Perez and was just over a tenth and a half ahead of Charles Leclerc with the Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton half a tenth further behind in sixth. Leclerc complained early on in the session about instability in high-speed corners.
However, the race-simulation runs at the end of the session suggested that Verstappen and Norris are set for another close fight. But the threat of rain saw some teams run slightly differently run plans to normal amid the looming threat of rain, which eventually arrived with five minutes in the session to go.
The session did see all teams manage to complete their programmes including the soft-tyre simulations and heavier-fuel race runs – before the late-session rain arrived. Showers are again forecast for Saturday’s qualifying and Sunday’s race days.
Although the McLarens, unlike Red Bull and Mercedes, had run the soft tyres in opening practice when Norris topped the first session, the team stayed at the head of the field once everyone had run the weekend’s quickest compound in the second session.
Verstappen was seventh, three hundredths behind Hamilton and on the same tyre nearly seven-tenths behind Norris after he ran wide at Chapel. The Dutchman may have been faster, he opted to do his qualifying sim fifteen minutes earlier when the track was clearly not quite as grippy or fast. The question remains whether Red Bull and Mercedes have show their full hand yet.
Verstappen ran the soft tyres early in the session and did not appear to do a low-fuel qualifying simulation run in the middle of the hour, as Norris did. Verstappen also had a snap that led him to run off track in the middle of the high-speed Becketts section, he will likely have more to find based on Hulkenberg’s fourth.
Carlos Sainz put his Ferrari eighth, he was a hundredth and a half behind Verstappen’s soft tyre run. Lance Stroll put Aston Martin ninth going two hundredths ahead of George Russell, the second Mercedes splitting the to Astons as he completed the top ten as he was eight hundredths ahead of Fernando Alonso.
Aston Martin endured a challenging weekend last time out in Austria, but the team caught the eye during practice at Silverstone, the have been fighting to get back near the front a year after the slide down the order Stroll had been second in FP1.
Valtteri Bottas was twelfth a hundredth behind Alonso and two-tenths faster than Alex Albon. The two Alpine’s were fourteenth and fifteenth, Pierre Gasly, who will start last in the Grand Prix following a power unit change, was a hundredth faster than his teammate Esteban Ocon.
Following his spin in FP1, Yuki Tsunoda put his RB sixteenth ahead of Logan Sargeant, Guanyu Zhou, Daniel Ricciardo and Kevin Magnussen.
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