Mercedes were back on top in second free practice session of F1 British GP with Valtteri Bottas ahead of Lewis Hamilton and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc.
The F1 British GP FP2 session at Silverstone was more sedate unlike FP1 as Bottas was quickest with a 1m26.732s to lead a Mercedes 1-2 with Hamilton (1m26.801s) in second ahead of the Ferrari duo of Leclerc (1m26.929s) and Sebastian Vettel (1m27.180s).
Even though Bottas was the fastest, the Finn had a spark plug issue which kept him inside the garage for a longer period of time. He did venture out again towards the end of the session after Mercedes was able to fix it, while Hamilton had a trouble-free run.
The Ferrari duo were testing items, especially the floor. With fresh confidence of topping FP1, Red Bull Racing’s Pierre Gasly (1m27.249s) ended up fifth ahead of McLaren’s Lando Norris (1m27.546s), who managed to leapfrog Red Bull’s Max Verstappen (1m27.562s).
The Dutchman did not have a clear run though as the other McLaren of Carlos Sainz (1m27.987s) led Toro Rosso’s Alexander Albon (1m27.997s) and Racing Point’s Sergio Perez (1m28.002s) in the Top 10. It was close with Toro Rosso’s Daniil Kvyat.
The Russian was only 0.006s behind in 11th with a 1m28.008s lap with Haas’ Kevin Magnussen (1m28.059s), Alfa Romeo Racing’s Kimi Raikkonen (1m28.126s) and Renault’s Daniel Ricciardo (1m28.128s) not far off in 14th.
The Finn had a new engine fitted on his car after an issue in FP2 as the Australian caused a Virtual Safety Car period after coming to a halt towards the end. His teammate Nico Hulkenberg (1m28.217s) was only 15th though.
Racing Point’s Lance Stroll (1m28.240s) was 16th ahead of Alfa Romeo’s Antonio Giovinazzi (1m28.294s) with Haas’ Romain Grosjean (1m28.794s) in 18th from Williams’ Robert Kubica (1m29.935s) and George Russell (1m30.514s) – the latter had a gearbox issue.
British GP: Gasly tops FP1 at Silverstone after a late improvement