Norris Tops British GP Second Practice Session

Lando Norris finished fastest in the second practice session for the British Grand Prix at Silverstone, narrowly beating Ferrari`s Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton.

McLaren and Ferrari appear poised for a tight contest this weekend. Norris set his best time 0.222 seconds ahead of Leclerc, with Hamilton 0.301 seconds behind. However, both Leclerc and Hamilton achieved their fastest laps on their second attempts, suggesting they might have more pace potential than Norris, who likely extracted the maximum from his lap.

McLaren CEO Zak Brown commented to Sky Sports F1, “The Ferraris look very strong over one lap and race pace. A little early, but Ferrari look very tough.”

Oscar Piastri, Norris`s McLaren teammate, finished fourth, followed by Max Verstappen in fifth. Both drivers were almost half a second slower than Norris. Verstappen visibly contended with understeer during both practice sessions at the high-speed Silverstone circuit, indicating that Red Bull`s updated floor hasn`t necessarily brought them closer to the front.

Kimi Antonelli was the quickest Mercedes driver in sixth place, with George Russell in eighth. It seems unlikely the Mercedes duo will be strong contenders for pole position at their home race. Lance Stroll of Aston Martin secured seventh, slotting between the two Mercedes cars. Racing Bulls` Isack Hadjar and Liam Lawson continued to show good form, finishing ninth and tenth respectively.

Carlos Sainz caused the only yellow flags of the second practice session when he spun onto the old main straight. He is under investigation for potentially driving in a dangerous manner after the incident, having spun in the middle of the track.

McLaren and Ferrari: A Potential Four-Way Fight?

Norris`s half-second qualifying advantage from the Austrian Grand Prix is unlikely to be replicated at Silverstone, a circuit that benefits from Ferrari`s strengths in long and high-speed corners. Ferrari`s new floor, introduced in Austria, seems to be yielding positive results this weekend, as Leclerc and Hamilton also showed strong pace on medium tyres compared to McLaren.

2009 F1 world champion and Sky Sports F1 analyst Jenson Button observed, “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 at the Canadian Grand Prix, Piastri has generally been slower than Norris. This trend continued on Friday at Silverstone, with the British driver holding the advantage in both sessions.

Sky Sports F1`s Anthony Davidson commented on the internal McLaren dynamic: “Piastri will have a tougher opponent in Lando Norris this weekend, naturally, after his win last week. But Oscar is a builder-upper and he will be right there and pressuring Lando every step of the way tomorrow, if not ahead of him by the end of the day.”

While Red Bull often improves significantly between Friday and Saturday, Verstappen`s deficit of 0.498 seconds to Norris is a cause for concern. However, Christian Horner, Red Bull Team Principal, believes the new floor (currently only on Verstappen`s car) just needs to be “dialled in” to achieve a better balance.

“We are giving away 90 per cent of our lap time in Turn 6 and 7, the slow-speed corners turning back into the wind,” said Horner. “But, the long run looks pretty sensible so we have something we can work with, we just need to tune it overnight the right way.”

British GP Practice Two Timesheet