Lewis Hamilton was the fastest driver in both free practice sessions today. Max Verstappen and Valtteri Bottas were right behind him in FP1, while it was Sebastian Vettel and Bottas again who completed the top 3 in FP2.
Sergey Sirotkin took Hülkenberg‘s seat for this session, while Celis drove Perez’ Force India. It’s been a tough day for all drivers today, since most of them have visited the run-off areas several times in virtually every corner. Hamilton managed to set a very quick lap with the soft tyre, which surprised and scared his rivals. Verstappen was 2nd with the ultrasoft thanks to a last minute laptime which brought him ahead of Bottas. Vettel, Ricciardo, Räikkönen, Vandoorne, Kvyat, Alonso and Ocon completed the top 10.
McLaren’s engine upgrade seemed to be working well in FP1 and continued doing so in FP2, with both Alonso and Vandoorne fighting to be the fastest driver behind Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull, although still far from the leaders. Hamilton set the fastest time again, this time with the ultrasoft compound and 1 tenth ahead of Vettel and 2 ahead of Bottas. Verstappen and Ricciardo were 3 and 4 tenths slower respectively, while Räikkönen was 6 tenths behind. Magnussen, Alonso, Hülkenberg and Grosjean completed the top 10.