Verstappen fastest in FP2 ahead of Sainz, Leclerc out with issues

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FP2 report British Grand Prix 2023 Verstappen wins
7 July 2023 at 16:57
Last update 7 July 2023 at 17:37
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  • Kada Sarkozi
  • Editor

Max Verstappen was the fastest in FP2 in Silverstone with a 1:28.078, as the Red Bull driver continues to impress this season. The defending champion was followed by Carlos Sainz and Alexander Albon.

Not much between Verstappen and Sainz

Verstappen did not top the session as comfortably as he would have hoped to, as Carlos Sainz was close to him all day long. There was only 0.022 second between the two drivers on soft tyres, showing that Ferrari once again can have a shot of at least fighting the Red Bulls in qualifying. Sergio Perez was two tenths behind the aforementioned pair, and finished only fourth.

Alexander Albon continued to impress for Williams, as the Thai-Brit driver finished in third place once again following his great outing in the first practice session of the day. His teammate, Logan Sargeant also finished in P5, just behind Sergio Perez. It was a day to forget for Mercedes, neither Lewis Hamilton nor George Russell could break into the top 10. Furthermore, Fernando Alonso was beaten by his teammate Lance Stroll, and finished in 10th place.

The session ended with race simulations, a silver lining for the Silver Arrows, as Hamilton showed good pace with a fuelled up car. Over the his team radio, Sainz also commented on the Briton's lap times with saying he is "fast".

On the other hand, Ferrari had to work continuously on Charles Leclerc’s car throughout the session. As a result, the Monegasque driver could not complete a lap in FP2, and finished last.

The first stints

After a five minute delay at the beginning of the session, thanks to two red flags in F2’s qualifying, in the first stints, Carlos Sainz was the fastest, ahead of Perez, Verstappen, Oscar Piastri and Hamilton. All of them used the medium compound tyres to complete their first run in the session.

In terms of incidents, Zhou Guanyu broke his steering wheel, Lance Stroll broke his left mirror, and both Lewis Hamilton and Carlos Sainz ran wide once while testing the limits of the track in their first couple of laps. Stroll’s troubles continued later on, as he told his team over the radio that a rock has hit his finger. Nyck de Vries also finished the session with a puncture in the last seconds.