Silverstone F2: Schumacher tops practice for the first time
Ferrari junior Mick Schumacher was fastest in practice ahead of the second successive Formula 2 weekend at Silverstone.
Prema’s Schumacher topped an F2 practice session for the first time with a 1m39.783s, after last weekend’s feature race winner Nikita Mazepin had his fastest lap time deleted for track limits abuse.
Hitech Grand Prix’s Mazepin was fastest in all three sectors to briefly displace Schumacher at the top of the timesheets, but Mazepin lost his time benchmark a few moments later for running wide at Stowe and dropped to 13th place.
The red flag was then brought out to recover reigning Euroformula Open champion Marino Sato’s stricken car after smoke and fire billowed out of the rear of the Trident-run car.
The session restarted with just over 10 minutes remaining, but nobody troubled Schumacher’s best effort.
Haas F1 reserve driver Louis Deletraz was second-quickest for Charouz Racing System, just 0.031s adrift of Schumacher's best effort.
DAMS’ Dan Ticktum, who earned his maiden F2 win last Sunday, completed the top three ahead of championship leader Robert Shwartzman (Prema).
Ticktum’s teammate Sean Gelael was a surprise fifth-fastest ahead of Red Bull Honda protege Yuki Tsunoda, who topped practice last weekend.
Williams junior Jack Aitken was seventh for Campos Racing but spun in the dying moments of the session on the exit of Brooklands.
Tsunoda’s Carlin teammate Jehan Daruvala finished the 45-minute session in eighth place ahead of Renault juniors Guanyu Zhou (Virtuosi) and Christian Lundgaard (ART Grand Prix).
Ferrari junior Callum Ilott was 11th ahead of series veteran Luca Ghiotto and his demoted teammate Mazepin.
ART GP’s Marcus Armstrong – one of five Ferrari juniors in the field – continued to struggle at Silverstone, posting the 14th fastest time.
Fellow Ferrari junior Giuliano Alesi spun his HWA machine on the exit of Brooklands early in the session, but re-joined to post the 18th fastest time.
Silverstone F2: Friday practice results:
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About this article
| Series | FIA F2 |
| Event | Silverstone II |
| Drivers | Mick Schumacher |
| Teams | Prema Powerteam |
| Author | Josh Suttill |
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