» Vettel pips Hamilton in FP2, Verstappen crashes

It was another dramatic practice session at the British Grand Prix, with Friday’s on-track action ending with Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel edging championship rival Lewis Hamilton to the top of the time sheets.

The championship leader beat the Mercedes driver – who was fastest in today’s opening practice session – into second place by just 0.187 seconds, marking the first time this season he has been quickest of all in an FP2 session.

The pair was chased by their respective teammates. Valtteri Bottas, whose Mercedes was fitted with a new power unit after his DNF in Austria, finished third-quickest ahead of the second Ferrari driven by his Finnish compatriot Kimi Räikkönen.

Red Bull Racing had a mixed session. With its TAG-badged Renault power units proving wanting on a circuit with 80% full throttle, Daniel Ricciardo finished fifth-quickest, albeit eight-tenths of a second slower than Vettel’s ultimate pace.

Teammate Max Verstappen, winner last time out in Austria, was hoping for an incident free session after he was forced to stop his car in FP1 with an apparent gearbox issue. The Dutch youngster missed out on vital track running while his car was repaired and only turned two laps before he crashed out at Luffield. He appeared to lose the back end of his car and spin into the barriers, breaking his right rear suspension against the barriers.

The session was red-flagged so his stricken car could be removed safely, but the incident marked yet another driving error this season.

It was a similarly mixed bag at McLaren, which has been in the spotlight in the wake of the sudden resignation of Racing Director Eric Boullier in the days leading up to its home Grand Prix. After an indifferent opening practice session, Fernando Alonso finished ‘best of the rest’ in sixth-fastest, while teammate Stoffel Vandoorne complained about his Renault-powered car’s handling and finished a lowly 17th-fastest.

The Renault team showed improved pace in the hot conditions, with Nico Hülkenberg less an one-tenth of a second behind Alonso in seventh. Teammate Carlos Sainz finished eleventh-fastest as the team looks to return to points’ finishes after a non-score last time out in Austria.

The factory Renault drivers were split by the two Force Indias, with Esteban Ocon and Sergio Pérez eighth and ninth respectively, while Sauber’s Charles Leclerc completed the top ten with another impressive showing for the improving Swiss team. Leclerc’s teammate Marcus Ericsson was fourteenth-fastest.

The Haas team had just one car in action during the session. Romain Grosjean was sidelined while his mechanics prepared a new chassis in the wake of his heavy crash in FP1, leaving teammate Kevin Magnussen to be the team’s workhorse – he finished 12th fastest.

Toro Rosso had a troubled session which will put the Italian team on the back foot ahead of Saturday’s all important qualifying session. Pierre Gasly finished 12th-fastest but was forced to park his STR13 with mechanical dramas after clocking up just 16 laps. Teammate Brendon Hartley was slowest of those to set a time, finishing behind the Williams duo of Lance Stroll and Sergey Sirotkin, and the aforementioned Vandoorne.

FORMULA 1 2018 ROLEX BRITISH GRAND PRIX – FREE PRACTICE SESSION 2 TIMES
	Driver	Team / Entry	Time	Gap	Laps
1.	Sebastian Vettel	Scuderia Ferrari SF71H	1:27.552		36
2.	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes AMG Petronas Motorsport F1W09	1:27.739	+ 0.187	32
3.	Valtteri Bottas	Mercedes AMG Petronas Motorsport F1W09	1:27.909	+ 0.357	30
4.	Kimi Räikkönen	Scuderia Ferrari SF71H	1:28.045	+ 0.493	34
5.	Daniel Ricciardo	Aston Martin Red Bull Racing Tag Heuer RB14	1:28.408	+ 0.856	31
6.	Fernando Alonso	McLaren F1 Team Renault MCL33	1:29.306	+ 1.754	31
7.	Nico Hülkenberg	Renault Sport F1 Team RS18	1:29.354	+ 1.802	35
8.	Esteban Ocon	Force India F1 Team Mercedes VJM11	1:29.467	+ 1.915	33
9.	Sergio Pérez	Force India F1 Team Mercedes VJM11	1:29.522	+ 1.970	32
10.	Charles Leclerc	Alfa Romeo Sauber F1 Team Ferrari C37	1:29.557	+ 2.005	30
11.	Carlos Sainz Jr	Renault Sport F1 Team RS18	1:29.563	+ 2.011	36
12.	Kevin Magnussen	Haas F1 Team Ferrari VF-18	1:29.617	+ 2.065	33
13.	Pierre Gasly	Red Bull Toro Rosso Honda STR13	1:29.831	+ 2.279	16
14.	Marcus Ericsson	Alfa Romeo Sauber F1 Team Ferrari C37	1:30.046	+ 2.494	32
15.	Lance Stroll	Williams Martini Racing Mercedes FW41	1:30.069	+ 2.517	34
16.	Sergey Sirotkin	Williams Martini Racing Mercedes FW41	1:30.103	+ 2.551	36
17.	Stoffel Vandoorne	McLaren F1 Team Renault MCL33	1:30.121	+ 2.569	31
18.	Brendon Hartley	Red Bull Toro Rosso Honda STR13	1:30.404	+ 2.852	36
19.	Max Verstappen	Aston Martin Red Bull Racing Tag Heuer RB14	no time		2
20.	Romain Grosjean	Haas F1 Team Ferrari VF-18	no time		0