Norris edges Ferraris in second British GP practice

Lando Norris ended Friday practice at the British Grand Prix with the fastest time but with Ferrari mounting a strong challenge at Silverstone.

Norris lowered the benchmark to 1m25.816s on his first lap on soft tires, the McLaren driver claiming all three purple sectors at the time he completed his lap. The effort put him almost 0.4s quicker than next-best Charles Leclerc, but the Monegasque radioed his team about a recalcitrant front-left corner that he said was costing him significant lap time.

Leclerc's second attempt on the same set of soft tires brought him to within 0.222s of Norris, pinching the fastest sector in the middle split on the way, but with potentially significant unrealized potential in the car.

Lewis Hamilton also found time on his second attempt, improving to third and 0.301s off the pace in the second Ferrari.

Oscar Piastri was a distant 0.47s slower than Norris, his best lap featuring an error through Club that left him unable to set even a personal best in the final sector on his fastest lap.

A second run on the same tires failed to improve his time but did correct the third-sector mistake; however, the Australian remained almost 0.25s slower than Norris in the middle split – from Brooklands to Chapel – when comparing best sectors, underscoring the work still to do by the championship leader to catch his teammate.

Max Verstappen labored to fifth and 0.498s off the pace. The Dutchman again complained of poor handling from his Red Bull RB21, with understeer hampering his fastest lap.

“Have you seen my front tires in the high speed? They just don’t respond,” he radioed to his team.

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Andrea Kimi Antonelli was the fastest Mercedes despite a snap through Club on his fastest lap, which left him 0.567s slower than Norris.

Lance Stroll received Aston Martin’s full upgrade package for FP2 and wielded it to lap 0.614s off the pace for seventh and split Antonelli from teammate George Russell, who was 0.707 adrift in eighth.

Racing Bulls continued to look impressive among the midfielders, with Isack Hadjar and Liam Lawson split by 0.1s in ninth and 10th.

Alex Albon was 11th for Williams ahead of Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso and Sauber’s Gabriel Bortoleto, who were more than a second off the pace but separated by just 0.064s.

Esteban Ocon was 14th in the fastest Haas entry ahead of Yuki Tsunoda, who resumed control of his Red Bull Racing car following Arvid Lindblad’s FP1 appearance but ended up one place lower than his rookie teammate had in the earlier session, lapping 1.164s off the pace in 15th.

Carlos Sainz had a fast spin out of Luffield early in the session that came perilously close to wiping Hamilton, ahead of him on track, out of the session as his Williams slid up the road.

The team put the pirouette down to a sudden 12mph gust through the corner. Sainz has been summoned to a post-session stewards hearing, however, for allegedly driving “in a manner potentially dangerous to other drivers.”

Nico Hulkenberg took back his car from Paul Aron, who deputized for him in FP1, to set the 17th-fastest time. Alpine teammates Pierre Gasly and Franco Colapinto were more than 1.3s off the pace in 18th and 20th, sandwiching the second Haas of Oliver Bearman into 19th.