After a slow and wet FP1, the second practice session at Silverstone was much busier and allowed for a lot of mileage to be racked up. And, at least one lap ahead, Carlos Sainz and Ferrari have shown a good start this weekend, leading FP2, despite also appearing to suffer from poising .
In a practice that began with sunshine and in which the Silverstone sky darkened as the minutes went by, Lewis Hamilton surprised by taking second position, just 0.163s behind Sainz, with Lando Norris also in third position less than two tenths of the Madrilenian.
The McLaren man took many of the spotlights, since he carried the camera on his pedals that delighted the fans. In addition, he had a scare when he found a slow George Russell in front and, to top it off, his mechanics left a embarrassing scene when, after suffering a broken rear jack during a tire change, they wanted to put a left rear wheel that did not fit. …because they had it backwards.
Replays and on-board cameras showed a lot of porpoising in several cars, including the Mercedes ( Hamilton complained and lost a piece ) and the Alpine, especially Fernando Alonso’s. The Spaniard managed to finish among the best, sixth, behind Verstappen and Leclerc , proving to be competitive.
The champion was one of those who lapped the least in this FP2, but his times in the long run at the end of the session were similar to those of the Ferrari, very competitive, so no alarm went off.
Even worse was Sergio Pérez, seventh behind Alonso, although one of the peculiarities of this session was that the top ten were separated by a second, since Lance Stroll, who closed the top 10, finished just at that mark of Sainz. Between Pérez and Stroll, eighth was George Russell and ninth, with the other McLaren, Daniel Ricciardo.
Formula 1 British GP 2022 FP2 Results
| Cla | Pilot | laps | Weather | Difference | Interval | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  |
 |
28 | 1’28,942 | ||
| 2 |  |
 |
21 | 1’29.105 | 0.163 | 0.163 |
| 3 | |
 |
29 | 1’29.118 | 0.176 | 0.013 |
| 4 |  |
 |
18 | 1’29.149 | 0.207 | 0.031 |
| 5 |  |
 |
25 | 1’29.404 | 0.462 | 0.255 |
| 6 | |
 |
19 | 1’29.695 | 0.753 | 0.291 |
| 7 |  |
 |
17 | 1’29,753 | 0.811 | 0.058 |
| 8 | |
 |
29 | 1’29.799 | 0.857 | 0.046 |
| 9 |  |
|
26 | 1’29.902 | 0.960 | 0.103 |
| 10 |  |
 |
17 | 1’29.942 | 1.000 | 0.040 |
| see results | ||||||
Summary of the FP2 of the British GP 2022 Formula 1
Already with sun and 31ºC in the atmosphere, the teams wanted to quickly recover the time lost in FP1 and all went out on the track in the first moments, with different dry tire options.
On softs, Alonso and Esteban Ocon left the two Alpines in the lead for a few moments, but on mediums, Max Verstappen and Pérez improved the mark and took the lead before, also with the yellow Pirelli, Leclerc and Sainz overtook their rivals.
The first lap for the Mercedes was calm, slow, and when all the drivers had completed their first timed lap, George Russell was penultimate and Hamilton last. The wind and some understeer and oversteer in the cars meant we saw some mistakes, and while Hamilton improved to third, Sainz dropped the 1m30 mark to take first with a 1m29.962s. Verstappen could not with the Madrid but Charles Leclerc, with a lot of paraffin on his rear wing, put three tenths to his partner.
Lando Norris showed his surprise and anger when he found a slow George Russell on the track, whom he was about to take ahead. The Briton from McLaren was one of the most followed during the session by the fans, since he carries a camera on the pedals of his car and leaves curious images.
Verstappen took second, four tenths behind Leclerc, while Hamilton complained of too much rebound. But Sainz, improving his mark, overtook the 2021 champion to stay 0.081 off the fastest time. With 40 minutes remaining, everyone went back to the pits, at which point Alonso was, thanks to the softs, sixth.
When cars again began to appear on the track, Lando Norris put the McLaren first on soft, which was the option chosen by the majority. Sainz responded by beating his former teammate by one tenth, and Alonso moved up to fourth place.
Carlos improved with a 1:28.94, and Leclerc closed within four tenths but behind Norris. After the comical moment of the McLaren mechanics breaking their rear jack and then wanting to put Norris on the wrong tyre, Lewis Hamilton bettered him to take second.
With new tires, Pérez could not beat Alonso and remained seventh. From there we started to see longer runs with a lot of fuel, and nothing changed on the timesheets. In race pace, Verstappen and Sainz seemed to be at a very similar level, and there Mercedes fell a little behind the two favorite cars.
Before the checkered flag, in another violent passage through the fast turn 9 (Copse), a piece of Hamilton’s Mercedes came off, leaving a striking image. The next practice, on Saturday at 1:00 p.m.
