Great Britain – Free Practice 2: Vettel responds to Hamilton, more trouble for Verstappen

In continuation of this morning, the sun remains present in the sky at the start of the second practice session. In the Haas garage, things are not going as well. Crashed in the middle of the first session, Romain Grosjean is not participating in this afternoon’s session. The damage to the VF-18 forced the team to change the chassis, which forces the Frenchman to stay grounded.

Another Frenchman is much more serene as he approaches the session. His ninth place in Free Practice 1 must help, as Force India seems to be regaining its form.

Feeling relaxed are we, @OconEsteban? 🤙#BritishGP 🇬🇧 #F1 pic.twitter.com/xS7To8xSf8

— Formula 1 (@F1) 6 juillet 2018

No traffic when the pit lane light turns green. Even though the session started 4 minutes ago, Lewis Hamilton has just arrived in his garage after signing some autographs. After 5 minutes, it’s finally Stoffel Vandoorne who breaks the prevailing silence, also stirring the spectators tempted to doze off. The Belgian kicks off the session, with eight drivers following in his footsteps.

Vandoorne sets an initial time of 1:31.622, Leclerc betters it with a 1:31.085. The important factor at the start of this weekend is the wind, as at Paul Ricard, some points of the track are tricky, and Carlos Sainz reports it over the radio. With the Ferraris taking to the track, the times drop below the 1 minute 30 mark, with Kimi Räikkönen clocking a 1:29.664, followed by Vettel, 178 thousandths behind.

Victim of a mechanical problem at the very end of the session this morning, Verstappen loses control of his car exiting Luffield and hits the barrier after a snap. The virtual safety car is deployed before a red flag is issued to clear the stricken Red Bull.

🚩 RED FLAG 🚩

Verstappen brings the session to a stop with a crunch at Luffield 😬#BritishGP 🇬🇧 #F1 pic.twitter.com/EJ5o1DdbSP

— Formula 1 (@F1) 6 juillet 2018

Following this interruption, here’s an update on the timing standings: Räikkönen at 1:28.591, followed by Vettel, Ricciardo, Leclerc, Ocon, Alonso, Vandoorne, Magnussen, Pérez, and Gasly in the Top 10. Beyond that are Ericsson, Stroll, Hartley, Sainz, Hülkenberg, and Sirotkin. Hamilton and Bottas have not yet recorded a timed lap, just like Verstappen and Grosjean, for whom the session is a thing of the past.

The green flag is waved again, 1 hour and 6 minutes of running time remain. Daniel Ricciardo is the first to hit the track, fitted with medium tires. Bottas and then Hamilton follow him. At Ferrari, Vettel’s SF71-H is on the stands and the mechanics are examining the underside of the car. In pursuit of the fastest time, Hamilton sets the best first sector but crosses the line at a slow pace. He records the third fastest time but is still keeping some things hidden from the competition.

As he exits Chapel, Pierre Gasly has two wheels in the grass, a small scare for the Frenchman. Charles Leclerc is experiencing a lot of understeer entering Brooklands, and he is not in good condition to tackle Luffield. However, this does not prevent him from improving afterward to maintain a solid 6th place, 1.1s off Räikkönen’s reference time, who is on his way to improvement with the best time in the first two sectors. This is something he does not achieve after losing a lot of time in the final sector.

Like Räikkönen during his last outing, the drivers are very greedy with the track edges in the final corner. Some do not hesitate at all to go very wide behind the curb before diving into Club.

Kimi drops the benchmark to improve on his own time

Despite running wide at the final coerner 😯

He remains our quickest lapper with a 1:28.525#BritishGP 🇬🇧 #F1 pic.twitter.com/pNLvFfOre7

— Formula 1 (@F1) 6 juillet 2018

The Scuderia is hard at work this afternoon. After stalling at 1.28.5, Räikkönen drops to 1.28.0 but Vettel pushes even harder: 1.27.552. We are getting closer to the reference time set by Lewis Hamilton this morning. Further back, the ranking has evolved, and we find the Force Indias, McLarens, Renaults, and Toro Rossos in the second half of the table. Ocon and Sainz move into the top 10 after their respective improvements, with Hülkenberg securing the 10th fastest time.

In retreat this morning, Fernando Alonso completes a promising first lap for McLaren and places 8th between Esteban Ocon and Sergio Pérez. Behind the three top teams, one can only continue to observe the intensity of the battle. While on a flying lap, Pierre Gasly has to stop his car on the side at turn 4; the weekend’s start is mixed for the Red Bull family. At Toro Rosso, they maintain a humorous tone.

.@PierreGASLY has pulled off the track at Turn 3 with an issue…

Suspiciously right before #URUFRA kicks off 🤔

— Toro Rosso (@ToroRosso) 6 juillet 2018

The final third of the session has begun, and it’s now time for race simulation for the drivers with long stints. Vettel and Bottas are showing similar times of 1:32.8 at the beginning of the stint. For reference, after several laps Alonso and Hülkenberg are clocking in at 1:34.5. Pérez is slower at 1:35.1.

Charles Leclerc already in trouble in Brooklands at the start of the session has this time completely lost control of his Sauber. He visits the English grass and causes a yellow flag in sector 2 before getting back on track in Luffield.

The image did not escape the cameras. After returning to the track, Leclerc found himself alongside Alonso approaching Copse, and the Monegasque did not waver against the Spaniard. In races and now in testing, the drivers no longer let up when it comes to competing against each other.

Look at that Leclerc defence into Copse 😂😂😂
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The complete standings of FP2:

CLASSIFICATION (END OF FP2)

Vettel leads the two Silver Arrows on a scorching Friday afternoon#BritishGP 🇬🇧 #F1 pic.twitter.com/TUGZdCdZbW

— Formula 1 (@F1) 6 juillet 2018