Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel took on the Mercedes drivers in the second practice session of 2018 Formula 1 British Grand Prix at Silverstone with the German topping the timesheets ahead of Lewis Hamilton.
The session was briefly red-flagged after Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen lost the rear of his car and crashed at the exit of Luffield on the hard compound tyres. Upon re-start, it was Vettel on top with a time of 1m27.552s.
The German cleared both the Mercedes drivers with Hamilton (1m27.739s) in second followed by Valtteri Bottas (1m27.909s) and the other Ferrari of Kimi Raikkonen (1m28.045s) – the two teams sealing the Top 4 spots.
Behind it was the second Red Bull of Daniel Ricciardo (1m28.408s) – the Australian was left to do the bulk of work after his teammate’s crash. McLaren’s Fernando Alonso (1m29.306s) ended up as the best of the rest in sixth.
The Spaniard was involved in a scarp with Sauber’s Charles Leclerc (1m29.557s) again – the two have been tussling well in the races. After Alonso, Renault’s Nico Hulkenberg (1m29.354s) also managed to topple the Force Indias.
The German’s improvement helped him to seventh, demoting Esteban Ocon (1m29.467s) to eighth and Sergio Perez (1m29.522s) in ninth. The two Force India drivers doing well again after a double Top 10 in FP1. Leclerc, meanwhile, rounded out the Top 10.
Before his fight with Alonso, the Monegasque had a grass moment as well. Renault’s Carlos Sainz (1m29.563s) was 11th from the sole running Haas of Kevin Magnussen (1m29.617s) after Romain Grosjean’s crash in FP1 required a chassis change.
Toro Rosso’s Pierre Gasly (1m29.831s) was 13th but an engine problem halted his run early. It was an old engine which was due to be changed after FP2. Sauber’s Marcus Ericsson (1m30.046s) was behind him with Williams’ Lance Stroll (1m30.069s) in 15th.
The Canadian followed up well from his 10th place in 10th but the team could face a fine after he was released on the path of Raikkonen earlier in the session. Sergey Sirotkin (1m30.103s) in 16th rounded out a good run for Williams.
At the back was McLaren’s Stoffel Vandoorne (1m30.121s) in 17th followed by Toro Rosso’s Brendon Hartley (1m30.404s), after Verstappen was unable to set any laptime along with Grosjean.
