After Valtteri Bottas set the pace in first practice, Formula 1 returned for second practice at Silverstone for the British Grand Prix. In second practice, teams began conducting long distance running, and also began undertaking qualifying simulations due to a chance of rain for FP3 ahead of qualifying.
Valtteri Bottas fastest at Silverstone in FP2
For second practice, Kevin Magnussen returned behind the wheel for Haas F1 after he sat out FP1 so Antonio Giovinazzi could drive in the session.
While FP1 saw relatively few incidents, a number of incidents occurred in FP2 with a number of drivers having off track excursions. Drivers included Kimi Raikkonen, Felipe Massa, and Lewis Hamilton, who ran wide and violently hit a kerb out on track, resulting in suspected floor damage. One incident out on track however, was between Massa and Max Verstappen, with Verstappen being blocked during a flying lap in the final sector by the Williams driver. Due to this extensive blocking, the incident is being investigated by the stewards, and may result in Massa being a given a penalty in qualifying.
When the 90 minute long session ended, Valtteri Bottas emerged as the pacesetter for the second time this weekend, setting a 1:28.496. The lap of the session however, was Lewis Hamilton’s, being only 0.047 seconds slower than Bottas on the slower soft compound tyre. In FP2, Red Bull Racing and Ferrari switched positions in the running order with the Ferrari pair being third and fourth fastest in the session, within 0.5 seconds of the Mercedes drivers.
After FP2, one thing that was notable was the low tyre degredation rates around Silverstone, especially on thee supersoft tyre. For this reason, a one stop race could be a likely prospect on Sunday, although the British Grand Prix is usually a two stop race.
Results from Practice 2 for the British Grand Prix:
- Valtteri Bottas, Mercedes, 1:28.496
- Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes, 1:28.543
- Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari, 1:28.828
- Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari, 1:28.956
- Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing, 1:29.098
- Daniel Ricciardo, Red Bull Racing, 1:29.586
- Nico Hulkenberg, Renault, 1:29.936
- Felipe Massa, Williams, 1:30.006
- Fernando Alonso, McLaren, 1:30.238
- Esteban Ocon, Force India, 1:30.383
- Carlos Sainz Jr, Toro Rosso,
- Daniil Kvyat, Toro Rosso, 1:30.562
- Sergio Perez, Force India, 1:30.624
- Romain Grosjean, Haas F1, 1:30.661
- Lance Stroll, Williams, 1:30.695
- Stoffel Vandoorne, McLaren, 1:30.782
- Kevin Magnussen, Haas F1, 1:30.835
- Jolyon Palmer, Renault, 1:30.879
- Marcus Ericsson, Sauber, 1:31.616
- Pascal Wehrlein, Sauber, 1:31.929
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