05/07/2024
NEWS STORY
Ahead of today's second practice session the air temperature is 18 degrees C, while the track temperature is 28 degrees. It remains cool and overcast. There was a shower shortly after FP1, but hey, this is England. Indeed, a further downpour is expected at the end of the hour.
As reminder, in terms of updates, Red Bull has a new Floor Body and Floor Edge, Mercedes a new Front Wing, Rear Wing, Front Corner and Rear Corner, while McLaren has a new Rear Wing, Beam Wing and Coke/Engine Cover.
Aston Martin has a new Front Wing and Rear Corner, while RB has a new Halo, Stake new Floor Fences and Haas a new Floor Body, Floor Fences, Floor Edge, Sidepod Inlet, Coke/Engine Cover, Mirror Stay and Rear Corner.
Ferrari, Alpine and Williams haven't brought any updates, which is surprising, certainly in the Maranello outfit's case.
Lando Norris set the pace earlier, ahead of Lance Stroll and Oscar Piastri, the top eight covered by under 0.5s.
Pierre Gasly will start Sunday's race from the back of the grid after taking on his fifth power unit, while Red Bull has been fined €20,000 after Isack Hadjar impeded Norris and Aston Martin fined €15,000 after Lance Stroll has a very close encounter with Charles Leclerc.
The lights go green and Sargeant leads the way, the Canadian having handed his car over to Franco Colapinto earlier. Also handing their cars over this morning were Sergio Perez, Gasly and Kevin Magnussen.
As more drivers head out most are on mediums, with Bottas, Stroll and Hulkenberg on hards.
Sargeant gets things underway with a 30.415, but soon things get sensible as Leclerc bangs in a 28.453.
As Russell complains that his tyres were cold out of the blankets, Verstappen stops the clock at 27.831.
Norris goes second with a 28.157, ahead of Russell, Leclerc, Hamilton and Sainz.
Verstappen pits after ten minutes of running, but with 19 drivers still on track the crowd has plenty to watch including Hamilton going second (28.101) and Leclerc making a mistake in Maggots.
"I really struggle in high speed," reports the Ferrari driver, "you see how tricky the car is."
As Norris goes third, ahead of Russell and Piastri, Verstappen switches to softs for the first time today.
Quickest in the final sector, Sainz crosses the line at 28.101 to go fourth as his teammate goes second with a 28.084.
On the red banded rubber, Verstappen goes quickest in all three sectors, stopping the clock at 27.233.
"I think the track is getting slower with the wind and the temperature," suggests Sainz.
Sainz improves to second (27.756), as Perez goes seventh with a 28.185.
Ricciardo calls on his team to check his car after "running a little wide".
Alonso, Zhou, Bottas and the Williams pair follow Verstappen's example and switch to softs.
In the opening sector Alonso is quicker than Verstappen, only for Bottas to go even quicker. At the line the Spaniard posts a 27.386 while the Finn responds with a 27.381.
As more drivers switch to the red-banded rubber, Sainz goes second and Stroll third.
Hulkenberg crosses the line at 26.990 to go top as a number of drivers complain about the increasing wind.
Moments later however, a 26.880 sees Piastri go quickest as the camera shows Leclerc really struggling to keep his car on the black stuff.
Norris goes quickest in the first two sectors, finally crossing the line at 26.549, as Hamilton goes fifth.
Stroll goes eighth and Russell ninth, the pair separated by just 0.02s.
"Check the floor, I guess I went off," admits Norris.
Perez goes third with a 26.983 as his teammate switches back to the mediums.
Ricciardo is told of rain that is expected at the end of the session.
Norris is also told of rain, warned that it will hit the Stowe end of the circuit first.
Sainz, Norris, Hamilton and Russell all lapping in the low 1:32s, as Norris is warned that when the rain hits it will become heavy quickly.
Replay shows Norris really riding the kerbs.
Understandably, what with the anticipated rain, all 20 drivers are on track.
With just under 7 minutes remaining, the rain begins to fall, just as Hamilton is warned that it is "imminent".
Verstappen and Perez are among the first to pit, while Norris stays out for another lap.
"The track is fine, I'm just slow," says Hamilton.
Norris finally pits, leaving Sainz alone on a clear track.
A number of drivers head out on Inters in order to perform practice starts, a wise move considering that more rain is expected over the next couple of days.
The session ends with Norris quickest, ahead of Piastri, Perez, Hulkenberg, Leclerc, Hamilton, Verstappen, Sainz, Stroll and Russell.
Alonso is eleventh, ahead of Bottas, Albon, Gasly, Ocon, Tsunoda, Sargeant, Zhou, Ricciardo and Magnussen.
Check out our Friday gallery from Silverstone here.