FP2: Bottas leads the way at Silverstone

Editor

Valtteri Bottas picked up where he left off from FP1 as Mercedes continued to assert their authority ahead of the British Grand Prix.

The Finn, who boosted his title hopes with his second victory of the season in Austria last weekend, finished top in FP2 with a 1:28.496 – seven tenths quicker than his best on Friday morning.

Lewis Hamilton was +0.046s behind in P2 on the soft tyres, but was on course to topple his team-mate on the supersoft compound until he got into a spin at Chapel.

Nevertheless, Ferrari still found themselves unable to match Mercedes' pace, with both title rivals introducing their third ICE units of the season.

Kimi Raikkonen finished P3, three tenths behind Bottas, and World Championship leader Sebastian Vettel was P4, a tenth further back.

Max Verstappen, who is under investigation alongside Felipe Massa after duo almost collided at the final corner, was six tenths off the pace in P5 and Daniel Ricciardo was a full second behind in P6.

Nico Hulkenberg set a new personal best in the final two sectors to rise up to P7, with Felipe Massa, Fernando Alonso and Esteban Ocon completing the top 10.

Carlos Sainz recovered from an early spin to finish P11 despite losing precious track time; Romain Grosjean also over-spilled at Copse in the opening stages before coming home for the day in P14.

Jolyon Palmer, in P18, lost all control at Brooklands, too, and finished nearly a full second behind his team-mate.

The two Saubers continued to prop up the rest of the field ahead of FP3 and qualifying on Saturday.

As for the race simulation runs that took place in the second half of the session, it was Mercedes who came out on top again.

Hamilton averaged 1:33.1 in his long stint, with Vettel three tenths further back. Verstappen's average was 1:33.7.

FP2 timesheet:

1 Bottas Mercedes 1:28:496 (SS)
2 Hamilton Mercedes 0.047 (S)
3 Raikkonen Ferrari 0.332 (SS)
4 Vettel Ferrari 0.460 (SS)
5 Verstappen Red Bull 0.602 (SS)
6 Ricciardo Red Bull 1.090 (SS)
7 Hulkenberg Renault 1.440 (SS)
8 Massa Williams 1.510 (SS)
9 Alonso McLaren-Honda 1.742 (SS)
10 Ocon Force India 1.887 (SS)
11 Sainz Toro Rosso 2.059 (SS)
12 Kvyat Toro Rosso 2.066 (SS)
13 Perez Force India 2.128 (SS)
14 Grosjean Haas 2.165 (SS)
15 Stroll Williams 2.199 (SS)
16 Vandoorne McLaren-Honda 2.286 (SS)
17 Magnussen Haas 2.339 (SS)
18 Palmer Renault 2.383 (SS)
19 Ericsson Sauber 3.120 (SS)
20 Wehrlein Sauber 3.433 (SS)