F1 British GP: Verstappen pips Sainz in FP2 as Leclerc hits trouble

F1 British GP: Verstappen Tops FP2 as Sainz Beats Troubles

There were several disruptions during the FP2 session at the F1 British GP, with teams like Aston Martin and Mercedes facing difficulties. However, Williams managed to impress their home fans with a remarkable performance.

The start of the session was delayed by five minutes to ensure a thorough sweep of the track. Prior to FP2, there were several offs and crashes during the Formula 2 qualifying session. Nevertheless, FP2 proceeded as scheduled for its one-hour duration.

AlphaTauri’s Nyck de Vries led the pack out of the pits, starting with the C1 hard and C2 medium tires.

Various drivers took turns in the top spot during their opening laps, but Sergio Perez set the initial benchmark with a time of 1m30.014s.

Max Verstappen then emerged and comfortably took the lead with a time of 1m29.550s, which remained the fastest time for the next part of the session.

As the first 10 minutes concluded, Perez managed to set a quicker time of 1m29.451s on the medium tires, surpassing both Red Bull cars.

However, Sainz quickly outperformed Perez with a flier time of 1m29.083s on the mediums, placing himself in front.

After a brief lull, the frontrunners returned to the track on soft tires for their qualifying simulations in the middle of FP2.

Verstappen was the first to set off on softs and recorded the quickest time in all three sectors, achieving a new best time of 1m28.078s.

Perez followed but was 0.264s slower, and he eventually dropped to fourth place. Alex Albon surprised everyone, including Williams team principal James Vowles, with an exceptional lap on softs that pushed him into second place, and Sainz claimed the third spot.

Although Sainz couldn’t surpass Verstappen’s time on his first soft tire run, he came close with a time of 1m28.100s, only 0.022s behind the leader.

The session then transitioned to high-fuel running, during which the only notable incidents were a puncture for de Vries and Lance Stroll being hit by a stone on his finger, causing some pain but not hindering his progress.

De Vries experienced a dramatic tire blowout as he braked for the Village right-hander in the first sector. Fortunately, he managed to avoid a major incident and returned to the pits after a brief stop at The Loop.

Behind Perez in fifth place was Logan Sargeant, continuing Williams’ strong performance. Lance Stroll secured sixth place for Aston Martin, although his qualifying simulation run was interrupted due to a loose left-side wing mirror.

Nico Hulkenberg claimed seventh place, marking a significant improvement for Haas compared to his last-place finish in FP1, when the team was examining its front suspension and beam wing upgrades.

Pierre Gasly finished eighth for Alpine, followed by Oscar Piastri in ninth place. Fernando Alonso completed the top 10 positions.

Alonso’s soft tire, lower fuel run was interrupted as Aston Martin ordered him to quickly slow down after crossing the line due to debris causing a potential problem, although it wasn’t reported as a puncture.

The three home drivers, excluding Alexander Albon, didn’t make it into the top 10. George Russell achieved the highest position, finishing 12th for Mercedes. His teammate Lewis Hamilton came in 15th, trailing behind fellow Briton Lando Norris. Both Hamilton and Norris faced challenges towards the end of FP2.

Hamilton aborted his first flying lap on softs, forcing him to complete his run on slightly worn tires. As a result, he ended up 1.205s behind Verstappen and 0.045s slower than Russell. Norris’s McLaren required significant front-end work before his soft tire run.

Unfortunately, Charles Leclerc encountered a disaster in FP2, as an electrical issue prevented him from participating in the session. Ferrari attempted to fix the problem during the early stages of FP2 but was unsuccessful in getting Leclerc on track.

Full Results:

1. Max Verstappen – Red Bull – 1’28.078
2. Carlos Sainz – Ferrari – 1’28.100 (+0.022)
3. Alex Albon – Williams – 1’28.296 (+0.218)
4. Sergio Perez – Red Bull – 1’28.342 (+0.264)
5. Logan Sargeant – Williams – 1’28.766 (+0.688)
6. Lance Stroll – Aston Martin – 1’28.866 (+0.788)
7. Nico Hulkenberg – Haas – 1’28.880 (+0.802)
8. Pierre Gasly – Alpine – 1’28.889 (+0.811)
9. Oscar Piastri – McLaren – 1’28.926 (+0.848)
10. Fernando Alonso – Aston Martin – 1’29.134 (+1.056)
11. Zhou Guanyu – Alfa Romeo – 1’29.225 (+1.147)
12. George Russell – Mercedes – 1’29.238 (+1.160)
13. Esteban Ocon – Alpine – 1’29.242 (+1.164)
14. Lando Norris – McLaren – 1’29.260 (+1.182)
15. Lewis Hamilton – Mercedes – 1’29.283 (+1.205)
16. Valtteri Bottas – Alfa Romeo – 1’29.378 (+1.300)
17. Kevin Magnussen – Haas – 1’29.439 (+1.361)
18. Yuki Tsunoda – AlphaTauri – 1’29.483 (+1.405)
19. Nyck de Vries – AlphaTauri – 1’29.571 (+1.493)
20. Charles Leclerc – Ferrari – (no time available)

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More about F1 British GP

• F1 British GP Official Website
• Red Bull Racing Team
• Scuderia Ferrari Official Website
• Williams Racing Team
• Official FIA Formula 1 World Championship
• AlphaTauri Team
• Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team
• McLaren Racing Team
• Aston Martin Cognizant Formula One™ Team
• FIA Formula 2 Championship