Valtteri Bottas ended the second session on top again as he got the better of team-mate Lewis Hamilton on Friday afternoon at Silverstone.
The Finn, coming into the weekend with confidence after winning last time out at the Red Bull Ring, jumped to the top of the time sheets with a best lap of 1:28.496s on the Pirelli Supersoft tyre, while his Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula One Team team-mate Hamilton ended up 0.047 seconds down.
Hamilton’s best lap was set on the Soft tyre, with a mistake at Chapel from the three-time World Champion denying him a chance of a representative lap time on the supposedly faster tyre, with the Britain then telling his engineers that the car may have been damaged.
Scuderia Ferrari was much closer to the pace in the second session than they were in the first, with Kimi Raikkonen ending up 0.332 seconds down in third. The Finn was one a handful of drivers to be caught out by the gusting wind as he spun at Becketts. Although he ended up in the gravel trap, he was able to recover and continue with his session.
Fourth fastest was the second Ferrari of championship leader Sebastian Vettel, with the German ending up 0.460 seconds off the pace, while Red Bull Racing finished fifth and sixth, Max Verstappen ahead of Daniel Ricciardo, with both drivers suffering moments that affected their quick runs, meaning there is still some pace to found in the RB13’s.
Nico Hülkenberg was the best of the rest in seventh the for Renault Sport Formula 1 Team, with the German 1.440 seconds off the pace, but he was 0.070 seconds faster than Felipe Massa of Williams Martini Racing in eighth.
Fernando Alonso completed the session in ninth for McLaren Honda Formula 1 Team, with the Spaniard continuing to make progress with the Spec Three engine that he will use this weekend, although it comes with the sacrifice of a five-place grid penalty.
Mercedes-protégé Esteban Ocon completed the top ten for the Sahara Force India F1 Team, 1.887 seconds down on Bottas’ pace, but he was 0.241 seconds and three places better off than his Mexican team-mate Sergio Perez, who ended up behind both of the Scuderia Toro Rosso drivers in thirteenth.
Carlos Sainz Jr endured a tough start to the session after a wild spin at Becketts that saw him return to the pits, and it took him fifty minutes before he was able to get a lap time on the board, but the Spaniard was able to finish eleventh fastest, 0.005 seconds faster than team-mate Daniil Kvyat.
Romain Grosjean was down in fourteenth in the leading Haas F1 Team entry, and much like in first practice earlier in the day, he had an off-track moment at Copse Corner, but the Frenchman had a better session than team-mate Kevin Magnussen, who returned to the car after sitting out FP1 to allow Antonio Giovinazzi some track time.
Magnussen ended up down in seventeenth, 0.174 seconds down on Grosjean, which meant he ended up behind both Lance Stroll and Stoffel Vandoorne, who were both off the pace compared to their team-mates Massa and Alonso.
Jolyon Palmer was another driver to spin during the session, with his moment coming at Brooklands, but the second Renault driver was almost a full second down on team-mate Hülkenberg, but he was able to finish ahead of the two Sauber F1 Team drivers, who are well adrift this weekend at Silverstone.
Marcus Ericsson was able to finish faster than team-mate Pascal Wehrlein, but the duo are both more than three seconds down on the ultimate pace.
Final practice takes place on Saturday morning, before qualifying later than afternoon. Can Bottas continue to hold the advantage, or will Hamilton or a Ferrari take pole position, and just where will Red Bull end up?
Silverstone Free Practice 2 Result
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