Free Practice 2 – Great Britain: The two Ferraris slip between the two Mercedes

For this second Friday session, the conditions are once again perfect at Silverstone: the air temperature has slightly risen to 22°C while the track reaches 46°C.

After this morning’s reconnaissance laps, the drivers are much quicker to set their first times. At the end of the first round, the two Mercedes are out front: Hamilton is the only one to get under the 1:35 mark, three-tenths ahead of his teammate. The B version of Sahara Force India appears to offer a leap forward, with Nico Hülkenberg in 3rd position while Sergio Perez occupies 8th place at the start of the session. Meanwhile, Jenson Button is still busy signing autographs in the paddock.

After a quarter of an hour, the top 10 is: Hamilton, Rosberg, Hülkenberg, Vettel, Sainz, Verstappen, Räikkönen, Perez, Maldonado, Bottas. The two Red Bulls and Jenson Button have yet to leave their garage.

But in the process, Romain Grosjean makes a mistake in turn 7. While he manages to brake enough to avoid the tire wall, he can’t get his Lotus out of the gravel trap. After missing the first practice session due to Jolyon Palmer’s driving, his second session stops after eight laps.

In order to allow the tow truck to enter the track, the red flag is displayed for five minutes.

Five minutes after the restart, Fernando Alonso goes off at the same spot as his former teammate. Nevertheless, he manages to maintain enough speed to get out of the gravel trap on his own. However, he is forced to return to the pits as his set of tires and the rest of his mechanics have certainly suffered a lot during the maneuver.

After 30 minutes, the hierarchy evolved to become Hamilton, Kvyat, Rosberg, Vettel, Hülkenberg, Ricciardo, Sainz, Verstappen, Räikkönen, Perez.

Nico Rosberg doesn’t leave the lead to his teammate for long as he clocks a time of 1:34.155. The two Ferraris join the fray as Kimi Räikkönen takes second position, just two hundredths ahead of his teammate, while Lewis Hamilton is 4th, half a second off the lead.

The mechanics of Romain Grosjean have been as busy as those of Mercedes this morning since Romain Grosjean’s Lotus is once again brand new half an hour before the end. This will allow the French driver to complete valuable laps to fine-tune his preparation for the rest of the weekend.

The wind in the corner claims another victim fifteen minutes later as Roberto Mehri spins at the edge of the gravel trap. However, he manages to get back on track in reverse, but this doesn’t prevent Charlie Whitting from waving the red flag since the Spaniard was briefly stuck with two wheels in the trap. The interruption is very short, just enough time for all drivers to pit for a final round of laps.

While it was thought that Lewis Hamilton would finish his session before the official end, he decided to go out again in the very last moments, but his discontent is palpable. His last attempt will not lead to any progress in the rankings.

Nico Rosberg will thus have managed to dominate both sessions this Friday while the Williams seem to be struggling in front of their home crowd.