Lando Norris Paces Second Practice at British GP

Lando Norris set the fastest time in the second practice session for the British Grand Prix at Silverstone on Friday, finishing ahead of Ferrari`s Charles Leclerc and Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton in what proved to be an intriguing day of running.

McLaren and Ferrari appear to be closely matched and are anticipated to engage in a significant battle throughout the remainder of the weekend. Although Norris held a gap of 0.222 seconds over Leclerc and 0.301 seconds over Hamilton, both the Ferrari and Mercedes drivers achieved their best times on their second attempt during their fast laps, suggesting they potentially had more performance available than Norris, who recently won the Austrian Grand Prix.

McLaren chief executive Zak Brown observed that the Ferraris looked very strong on both single-lap pace and long-run simulations, anticipating them to be tough competitors.

Norris`s teammate, Oscar Piastri, who is currently 15 points ahead in the Drivers` Championship standings, finished fourth, with Max Verstappen in fifth place. Both drivers were nearly half a second slower than the leading McLaren.

Verstappen visibly struggled with understeer during both practice sessions on the fast corners of the Silverstone circuit. Red Bull`s new floor, fitted only to Verstappen`s car, does not yet appear to have moved them closer to the front of the field.

Kimi Antonelli was the quicker of the two Mercedes cars, placing sixth, while George Russell was eighth. Russell seems unlikely to challenge for pole position at his home race.

Lance Stroll from Aston Martin separated the two Mercedes cars in seventh place. Racing Bulls drivers Isack Hadjar and Liam Lawson continued to demonstrate solid performance, securing ninth and tenth positions respectively.

The only disruption causing a yellow flag in the second practice session was Carlos Sainz, who spun onto the old main straight. Sainz is currently under investigation for potentially driving in an unsafe manner while attempting to rejoin the track after his spin in the middle of the circuit.

Four-way Battle Between McLaren, Ferrari, Mercedes, Red Bull?

The significant half-second advantage Norris held in qualifying at the Austrian Grand Prix is not expected to be replicated at Silverstone, a circuit whose long, high-speed corners seem to suit Ferrari`s car characteristics well.

Ferrari`s updated floor, introduced at the previous race in Austria, appears to be beneficial this weekend. Leclerc and Hamilton also showed strong pace on the medium compound tires compared to the McLarens.

2009 F1 World Champion Jenson Button commented on the competitiveness, stating, “It`s mixed-up up there, it`s good. The Ferraris look competitive, in qualifying pace and their long run pace looks on a par with the McLarens. Red Bull have a little bit of work to do.”

Since McLaren introduced a new suspension upgrade at the Canadian Grand Prix last month, Oscar Piastri has generally been slightly slower than Lando Norris. This trend continued on Friday at Silverstone, with Norris holding the advantage in both practice sessions.

F1 analyst Anthony Davidson suggested that Piastri will face a tough challenge from Norris this weekend, especially following his recent win. However, he noted that Oscar often builds up pace throughout the weekend and will likely be pushing Norris closely, potentially even getting ahead by the end of Saturday.

A recurring pattern this season has been Red Bull improving their performance significantly from Friday to Saturday. Nevertheless, Verstappen`s nearly half-second deficit (0.498s) to Norris on Friday is a cause for concern.

Red Bull Team Principal Christian Horner indicated that the new floor fitted to Verstappen`s car simply needed further fine-tuning to achieve a better balance. Horner explained that the team was losing significant time in Turns 6 and 7, the slow-speed corners where they turn back into the wind, but felt their long-run pace looked reasonable and provided a good base for adjustments overnight.

British GP Second Practice Timesheet