Lando Norris continued his dominance at the top of the timesheets on Friday at Silverstone, setting the fastest time in second practice. He led McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri and Red Bull's Sergio Perez.
With the risk of rain still at 60 percent – as it was during FP1 – Free Practice 2 began busily as teams and drivers aimed to complete their programs before any showers arrived. Most of the field started with medium tyres, and Max Verstappen initially set the pace for Red Bull with a lap time of 1m 27.831s. Meanwhile, Charles Leclerc had a moment through Maggots and Becketts in the Ferrari, reporting difficulties in high-speed sections.
Carlos Sainz, Leclerc’s Scuderia teammate, noted that the track seemed to be getting slower due to windy conditions. Soon after, Verstappen switched to the soft tyre – which he hadn't used in FP1 – and promptly went fastest overall. Aston Martin, who struggled in Austria, showed promise during practice at Silverstone. Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll both found themselves near the top of the timesheets at various points in FP2, following Stroll’s P2 result in first practice.
As focus shifted to fast lap runs, FP1 leader Norris went quickest by the session’s midpoint with a lap of 1m 26.549s. A slight off-track moment led Norris to ask his team to check the floor of his car. Meanwhile, Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo was warned about incoming rain towards the end of the session, possibly explaining the varied run plans, though many drivers continued with their race simulations.
Rain did fall in the final minutes, but Norris maintained his lead, finishing 0.331s ahead of teammate Piastri.
Perez took third as the leading Red Bull, just ahead of Haas’s Nico Hulkenberg in a strong fourth. Future teammates Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton placed fifth and sixth for Ferrari and Mercedes, respectively. Verstappen finished seventh, followed by Sainz in eighth and Stroll in ninth. The Mercedes of George Russell completed the top 10. Alonso missed out, finishing 11th, followed by Kick Sauber’s Valtteri Bottas in 12th.
Alex Albon was 13th for Williams, driving a car featuring a special Union Jack livery for the event. The Alpine pair of Pierre Gasly and Esteban Ocon finished 14th and 15th. Gasly will start Sunday's race from the back of the grid due to a new power unit. Yuki Tsunoda, returning after a spin into the gravel in FP1, took 16th for Red Bull, ahead of Williams' Logan Sargeant, Kick Sauber’s Zhou Guanyu, Ricciardo, and Haas’s Kevin Magnussen.
With Friday’s action at Silverstone complete, drivers and teams will analyze their data before returning for the third and final practice on Saturday at 11:30 local time, ahead of qualifying later in the day.