F1 Grand Prix practice results: Sainz fastest in British GP on Friday

Alfa Romeo’s Valtteri Bottas was fastest in a wet FP1, while Sainz topped FP2 in much dryer weather conditions. Hamilton, McLaren’s Lando Norris and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen were next up.

British Grand Prix FP1 results: Bottas fastest from Hamilton

Cla	Driver	Chassis	Laps	Time	Gap	Interval	km/h
1	Valtteri Bottas	Alfa Romeo	9	1'42.249			207.411
2	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	10	1'42.781	0.532	0.532	206.337
3	Carlos Sainz	Ferrari	8	1'42.967	0.718	0.186	205.965
4	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	7	1'43.801	1.552	0.834	204.310
5	Mick Schumacher	Haas	3	1'43.895	1.646	0.094	204.125
6	Zhou Guanyu	Alfa Romeo	4	1'46.171	3.922	2.276	199.749
7	Kevin Magnussen	Haas	3	1'48.161	5.912	1.990	196.074
8	Lance Stroll	Aston Martin	5	1'51.243	8.994	3.082	190.642
9	Yuki Tsunoda	AlphaTauri	5	1'51.373	9.124	0.130	190.419
10	Sebastian Vettel	Aston Martin	5	1'59.168	16.919	7.795	177.963
11	George Russell	Mercedes	2
12	Sergio Perez	Red Bull	3
13	Esteban Ocon	Alpine	2
14	Fernando Alonso	Alpine	1
15	Alex Albon	Williams	1
16	Daniel Ricciardo	McLaren	4
17	Pierre Gasly	AlphaTauri	3
18	Lando Norris	McLaren	4
19	Nicholas Latifi	Williams	1
20	Max Verstappen	Red Bull	3
View full results

What happened in British GP Free Practice 1?

Rain at the start of the session soaked half of the circuit but the other side of the track remained dry, which severely limited running across the hour.

Sainz set the bar at 1m42.967s on intermediate tyres, ahead of Bottas on 1m43.437s and teammate Leclerc on 1m43.801s.

Hamilton was the first to take slicks with just over five minutes remaining, as Bottas improved to P1 on 1m42.249s on inters.

Hamilton set 1m42.781 – the only driver to set a time on slicks – to take P2, 0.532s off Bottas’s pace. Sainz and Leclerc finished third and fourth, ahead of Mick Schumacher’s Haas.

Lance Stroll beached his Aston Martin after spinning at Copse, causing a red flag that halted the session prematurely.

British Grand Prix FP2 results: Sainz fastest from Hamilton

Cla	Driver	Chassis	Laps	Time	Gap	Interval	km/h
1	Carlos Sainz	Ferrari	28	1'28.942			238.443
2	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	21	1'29.105	0.163	0.163	238.006
3	Lando Norris	McLaren	29	1'29.118	0.176	0.013	237.972
4	Max Verstappen	Red Bull	18	1'29.149	0.207	0.031	237.889
5	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	25	1'29.404	0.462	0.255	237.210
6	Fernando Alonso	Alpine	19	1'29.695	0.753	0.291	236.441
7	Sergio Perez	Red Bull	17	1'29.753	0.811	0.058	236.288
8	George Russell	Mercedes	29	1'29.799	0.857	0.046	236.167
9	Daniel Ricciardo	McLaren	26	1'29.902	0.960	0.103	235.896
10	Lance Stroll	Aston Martin	17	1'29.942	1.000	0.040	235.791
11	Valtteri Bottas	Alfa Romeo	29	1'30.000	1.058	0.058	235.640
12	Sebastian Vettel	Aston Martin	20	1'30.057	1.115	0.057	235.490
13	Esteban Ocon	Alpine	12	1'30.238	1.296	0.181	235.018
14	Alex Albon	Williams	14	1'30.263	1.321	0.025	234.953
15	Zhou Guanyu	Alfa Romeo	27	1'30.271	1.329	0.008	234.932
16	Yuki Tsunoda	AlphaTauri	29	1'30.338	1.396	0.067	234.758
17	Kevin Magnussen	Haas	27	1'30.480	1.538	0.142	234.389
18	Pierre Gasly	AlphaTauri	28	1'30.510	1.568	0.030	234.312
19	Mick Schumacher	Haas	29	1'30.609	1.667	0.099	234.056
20	Nicholas Latifi	Williams	27	1'31.326	2.384	0.717	232.218
View full results

What happened in British GP Free Practice 2?

In dry and sunny conditions, Verstappen set the early pace at 1m31.438s on medium slicks. It was quickly beaten by Leclerc on 1m30.786s, on the same compound, who was 0.094s faster than teammate Sainz.

Sainz improved to 1m29.962s on a second push lap, with Verstappen over half a second shy. Leclerc took P1 back with 1m29.639s, and then improved to 1m29.462s. Sainz did likewise to take P2, 0.081s in arrears, ahead of Verstappen who was over four tenths off in third.

Norris then enjoyed an early glory run on soft tyres in front of his home fans, taking the fastest time with 1m29.118s. Sainz had a big moment at Copse, setting a new P1 time at 1m29.014s despite this, before producing a 1m28.942s on a second push lap to extend his advantage at the top.

Hamilton went P2 with 1m29.105s, 0.163s down on Sainz but just clear of Norris.

Verstappen only managed 1m29.149s for fourth, two tenths off the pace. Leclerc had a poor first soft-tyre run, and languished in fifth, over four tenths away from his teammate’s best time.