Valtteri Bottas has led a Mercedes-AMG 1-2 in final practice for the British Formula 1 Grand Prix, with the Brackley squad leading the timesheets for the first time this weekend.
The field’s final practice hit-out was vital ahead of this afternoon’s qualifying session, and the much cooler track temperatures compared to Friday saw lap times tumble. The Finn posted his fastest time of 1:25.873 with 15 minutes of the session remaining to shade Hamilton, who had provisionally held top spot.
Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen hustled his Honda-powered RB16 to third-fastest, but his teammate Alexander Albon was confined to the garage for much of the session while his team continued to complete repairs to his car which he had heavily crashed in Friday’s second practice session. The Anglo-Thai driver was eventually able to get out on track late in the session, clocking ten laps and finishing thirteenth-fastest.
FP2 pacesetter Lance Stroll put in a late lap to claim fourth on the timesheets, albeit over seven-tenths of a second off Bottas’ pace, while his stand-in teammate Nico Hülkenberg was a respectable ninth-fastest in the second Racing Point Mercedes.
The McLarens of Carlos Sainz and Lando Norris improved relative to their Friday pace, claiming fifth and seventh, split by the Ferrari of Charles Leclerc.
The Monégasque driver’s teammate Sebastian Vettel had further troubles. After sitting out FP1 with intercooler issues and having his FP2 session compromised by a brake pedal drama, it appeared that the latter issue reared its head again in final practice. The German finished only fourteenth-fastest.
Renault’s Daniel Ricciardo finished eighth-fastest, driving a new RS20 chassis after his team was forced to break curfew to build a new car for the Australian when his usual machine was found to have a hairline crack – a possible legacy of his heavy accident at the Styrian Grand Prix three weeks ago.
FORMULA 1 PIRELLI BRITISH GRAND PRIX 2020 – FREE PRACTICE SESSION 2 | ||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Driver | Team / Entry | Time | Gap | Laps | ||||
1. | Valtteri Bottas | ![]() |
![]() |
Mercedes-AMG F1 Team W11 | ![]() |
1:25.873 | 19 | |
2. | Lewis Hamilton | ![]() |
![]() |
Mercedes-AMG F1 Team W11 | ![]() |
1:26.011 | + 0.138 | 22 |
3. | Max Verstappen | ![]() |
![]() |
Red Bull Racing RB16 | ![]() |
1:26.173 | + 0.300 | 15 |
4. | Lance Stroll | ![]() |
![]() |
Racing Point F1 Team RP20 | ![]() |
1:26.576 | + 0.703 | 14 |
5. | Carlos Sainz Jr. | ![]() |
![]() |
McLaren F1 Team MCL35 | ![]() |
1:26.664 | + 0.791 | 22 |
6. | Charles Leclerc | ![]() |
![]() |
Scuderia Ferrari SF1000 | ![]() |
1:26.771 | + 0.898 | 19 |
7. | Lando Norris | ![]() |
![]() |
McLaren F1 Team MCL35 | ![]() |
1:26.798 | + 0.925 | 23 |
8. | Daniel Ricciardo | ![]() |
![]() |
Renault F1 Team R.S.20 | ![]() |
1:26.841 | + 0.968 | 15 |
9. | Nico Hülkenberg | ![]() |
![]() |
Racing Point F1 Team RP20 | ![]() |
1:26.872 | + 0.999 | 15 |
10. | Pierre Gasly | ![]() |
![]() |
Scuderia AlfaTauri AT01 | ![]() |
1:27.046 | + 1.173 | 20 |
11. | Daniil Kvyat | ![]() |
![]() |
Scuderia AlfaTauri AT01 | ![]() |
1:27.076 | + 1.203 | 18 |
12. | Esteban Ocon | ![]() |
![]() |
Renault F1 Team R.S.20 | ![]() |
1:27.158 | + 1.285 | 16 |
13. | Alexander Albon | ![]() |
![]() |
Red Bull Racing RB16 | ![]() |
1:27.178 | + 1.305 | 10 |
14. | Sebastian Vettel | ![]() |
![]() |
Scuderia Ferrari SF1000 | ![]() |
1:27.251 | + 1.378 | 21 |
15. | Romain Grosjean | ![]() |
![]() |
Haas F1 Team VF-20 | ![]() |
1:27.537 | + 1.664 | 18 |
16. | George Russell | ![]() |
![]() |
Williams Racing FW43 | ![]() |
1:27.738 | + 1.865 | 17 |
17. | Antonio Giovinazzi | ![]() |
![]() |
Alfa Romeo Racing C39 | ![]() |
1:27.825 | + 1.952 | 16 |
18. | Kevin Magnussen | ![]() |
![]() |
Haas F1 Team VF-20 | ![]() |
1:27.860 | + 1.987 | 15 |
19. | Kimi Räikkönen | ![]() |
![]() |
Alfa Romeo Racing C39 | ![]() |
1:27.976 | + 2.103 | 20 |
20. | Nicholas Latifi | ![]() |
![]() |
Williams Racing FW43 | ![]() |
1:28.112 | + 2.239 | 16 |
Image via Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team
Richard Bailey
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