Norris outpaces Ferrari during FP2

Lando Norris outpaced the flying Ferrari teammates during Free Practice 2, finishing the opening day of his home race as the fastest driver while windy conditions plagued his competitors at the British Grand Prix.

The uncharacteristic scorching conditions shining down on Silverstone didn’t deter the drivers from maximising every minute of the second practice session of the weekend, with the fast-lane bursting to life as the light went green at the pit exit.

Warned of the gusty conditions, which caught many drivers out during FP1, carrying over into FP2, Oscar Piastri kicked off his first stint with the popular selection of the medium compound tyre.

It took the Australian a little while to find his competitive edge, but when he did, it was straight to the top of the table for Piastri, who crossed the line with a time of 1:27.196s — three-tenths clear of his teammate who fell to P7.

After a quick trip back to the pitlane, Piastri made his way out on track with a fresh set of C3s at his disposal. 

On the charge with a 34.8s through the middle sector, the McLaren fell just one-hundredth short of the benchmark pace when he crossed the line, before dropping to the back of a top three separated by just 0.025s.

At the halfway point of the hour, Piastri made the switch to the soft compound tyre and found himself settling into P2 behind Charles Leclerc, before both drivers’ teammates found an extra ounce of pace to demote the #16 and #81.

Touring Silverstone Circuit as the fourth fastest driver on track, he reverted to the medium compound for the final ten minutes of FP2, following the same pattern as FP1 where he rounded out the hour with a focus on race simulations.

With 12-lap-old tyres, the Australian had the fourth-fastest race pace as he lapped Silverstone in 1:32.2s, falling short to Verstappen, Leclerc and Norris as the session came to a close. 

The Australian completed his practice start on the grid before calling it a day and parking the car, which rewarded Piastri with P4 in the McLaren garage after Day 1 in Silverstone.

Liam Lawson’s session got off to a frustrating start when he was forced to abort his first flying lap due to a slow-moving and poorly-placed Ollie Bearman on the racing line through Luffield, with the stewards noting the Haas rookie’s error. 

Resetting ahead of his next attempt, Lawson launched around the 5.89km lap to set the sixth fastest time of the initial timesheets, over two-tenths ahead of Isack Hadjar.

Lawson completed seven laps on his C3 tyres before returning to the pitlane, remaining in the RB garage for a short while before rejoining on the soft compound tyre.

Both Racing Bulls drivers instantly made an impact after their first flying run on the C4, sitting within the top five times as the session reached the halfway mark.

With a time of 1:26.624s, Lawson only completed three laps before returning to the pitlane and making the switch back to the medium compound, focusing on race simulations for the final third of FP2.

Lawson completed one of the longest runs of the session at 15 laps before pulling into the pitlane for a practice pitstop, instantly returning to complete his practice start on the grid.

Launching on the soft compound tyre, Lawson’s 1:26.624s lap on said compound was his fastest of the hour, leaving him in P10 as the chequered flag on the opening day of the British Grand Prix waved.

As was the case in FP1, Lewis Hamilton sat atop the timesheets to start the second hour of practice, leading over the surprise contenders of Isack Hadjar and his former Mercedes teammate George Russell.

Not one to threaten the Ferrari driver on the timesheets but rather accidentally coming too close for comfort on the track, Carlos Sainz was caught out by a 20kmh wind gust as he rounded Luffield, attempting to correct his wayward Williams as he exited Turn 7 and spinning near Hamilton, who was forced to accelerate to safety during his cooldown lap.

After taking a moment to breathe, Sainz attempted to right his FW47, however, found himself being noted for an unsafe rejoin as Nico Hulkenberg was forced to brake to avoid the Spaniard. 

Back on the scoreboard, the Ferrari duo commanded the medium compound times, with Hamilton sitting as the man to beat just 0.015s ahead of Charles Leclerc before blowing that margin out to almost three-tenths. 

Not as satisfied with his challenger was Max Verstappen, whose FP1 issues seemed to have followed him through to the afternoon session at Silverstone. 

The Dutchman found his RB21 just managing to secure a place in the top ten times, with his teammate, having missed out on FP1 to allow Lindblad to compete, continuing to struggle in P14.

At the halfway mark of the session, the drivers made the switch to the soft compound tyre, and again, the Ferrari duo were the fiercest competitors as Leclerc pushed his team to solve an issue with the front left of his SF25 to unlock more pace after he moved into P1. 

Hamilton found a slight edge over the #16 when he finally managed to put a clean run together, however, it was Lando Norris who later took the lead position with a new benchmark time of 1:25.816s — two-tenths clear of the seven-time world champion.

Riding the kerbs to squeeze every last tenth out of the 5.89km lap, Verstappen came within touching distance of the McLaren and Ferrari competitors, however, he was still almost half a second behind Norris’ benchmark. 

For the remaining 15 minutes, drivers gradually reverted to the yellow-marked tyre as long-run programs kicked off.

As tyres aged beyond ten laps, it was the lead Red Bull driver who had the fastest race pace, lapping at 1:31.4s on his C3 tyres — two-tenths quicker than Leclerc, and three-tenths quicker than Norris.

Lap times stabilised around the 1m 32s mark, meaning Norris’ soft tyre benchmark of 1:25.816s remained the fastest of the day — a second gift to the patriotic British crowd.

Already offering suggestions for set-up changes during their in-laps, drivers have tasked their teams with maximising their challengers ahead of an all-important Qualifying session at the British Grand Prix.

But first, the final hour of practice will take place at 20:30 AEST before the hour shootout from 00:00 AEST.

Image: McLaren

Free Practice 2 Results:

2025 British Grand Prix Schedule:

Friday, July 04:

FP1: 21:30 – 22:30

Saturday, July 05:

FP2: 01:00 – 02:00

FP3: 20:30 – 21:30

Sunday, July 06:

Qualifying: 00:00 – 01:00

Monday, July 07:

Race: 00:00

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