Max Verstappen topped the section practice session in his Red Bull, much like he did earlier in the afternoon. The two-time World Champion was fastest than last year’s race winner Carlos Sainz and Alex Albon, who once again impressed in his Williams.
After a five-minute delay following an incident in FIA Formula 2 and the need for the track to be swept following FIA Formula 2 Qualifying which was red-flagged.
The majority of the grid was straight out on the circuit, with Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes), Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) and Kevin Magnussen (Haas) the only drivers remaining in the garage during the opening minutes of the session.
An electrical issue for Leclerc kept him in the garage for the entire session, putting him on the back foot for the remainder of the weekend.
As the Red Bull duo of Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez continued their impressive form at the top of the leaderboard, their party would be spoilt by McLaren’s Oscar Piastri, who split the pair and moved into second. The upgrades on his McLaren appear to be working well for the team.
After finishing 12th in the first practice session, Hamilton climbed to a peak of fifth in FP2, before falling down the order with drivers around him improving.
Fernando Alonso was the first driver to join the track on the soft compound of tyres in his Aston Martin, moving to second as the rest of the grid would begin to fit the same compound as the session headed towards a conclusion.
One of the biggest stories from FP1 was the impressive lap time by Alex Albon in his Williams. FP2 was no different as he once again held the third position on the leaderboard at the end of the session.
Ferrari’s one-driver effort in practice was as much of a success as it could be as Carlos Sainz impressed on the track he took victory on last season. His best time was only 0.022 seconds behind Verstappen. We might just have a race on for the win come Sunday afternoon.
While Mercedes were playing down their upgrades this weekend, many believe that it was their old-school method of ‘sand-bagging’ to give the British crowd something to cheer at over the weekend when they unleash their true potential. However, based on lap times alone, George Russell could only manage 12th fastest, with Hamilton down in P15 at the end o the session.
The final piece of action from the session came from the Alpha Tauri’s Nyck de Vries who had to pull to the side of the track with a puncture. A potential worrying sign with the new specification of Pirelli tyres being used this weekend.
Sergio Perez was fourth fastest, with Williams’ Logan Sargeant in an impressive fifth place ahead of Lance Stroll (Aston Martin), Nico Hulkenberg (Haas), Pierre Gasly (Alpine), Piastri and Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin), who rounded out the top ten.