Verstappen fastest in second free practice Silverstone

Published on 17 July 2021 by Kees-Jan Koster

Max Verstappen set the fastest time in the second and final free practice session for the British Grand Prix. The session was in preparation for the sprint race later on Saturday afternoon. The Dutchman, who did 23 laps on the Silverstone circuit, was with a time of 1:29.902 quicker than both Ferraris of Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz, who finished in second and third position.

Ahead of the first sprint race in the history of Formula 1, the second free practice session on the 5.891 kilometre long Silverstone circuit is taking place. This practice session revolves entirely around preparing for the sprint race, which will be held later on Saturday afternoon, and the Grand Prix on Sunday. Qualifying happened already on Friday, which Lewis Hamilton finished first, taking the first starting position for the sprint race, with Max Verstappen next to the Brit in second position on the first row of the grid.

Under a shining sun, after the lights go green, both Haas drivers, Mick Schumacher and Nikita Mazepin, come out on track first. Many of the other drivers follow their example. When the session is fifteen minutes underway, Max comes leaves the pitlane as last of all drivers. On the medium tyre compound the Dutchman sets the fastest time in his first flying lap. With a lap time of 1:30.428 he then is a second faster than his Red Bull Racing teammate Sergio Perez in P2. 

Max stays out on track and with 25 minutes on the clock he sets another fastest time (1:29.902). After a stint of fourteen laps Verstappen returns to the pit box. The Ferraris of Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz are moving up into P2 and P3.

After a short stay in the pits, Verstappen comes out for a second run with ten more minutes to go. This time on hard tyres, doing a couple of laps on race pace and Max does not improve his time. As nobody improves his time Verstappen finishes the session in first position. The Ferraris of Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz finish in P2 and P3, Esteban Ocon in P4 and Perez in P5.

At 17:30 Dutch time the 17 lap sprint race for the British Grand Prix will start.

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Results second free practice Great Britain: