In a weekend where he’ll be under pressure from stand-in Nico Hulkenberg, Lance Stroll has impressed by beating Alex Albon and Valterri Bottas to finish top in the second Free Practice session.
Report
It was a sweltering 33 degrees at Silverstone for the second practice session. Sebastian Vettel was able to participate meaning that every car posted a lap time. However, the German missed most of the session after developing an issues with his pedals.
Many cars jostled for 1st during the opening minutes and after Charles Leclerc placed his car at the top, he immediately spun on the following lap. The Monegasque lost the back end through turn 4, finding himself facing the wrong way. A strong wind was playing havoc with the drivers. Pierre Gasly, Alex Albon and even Lewis Hamilton were buffeted off the track at different points. This could be a pivotal factor come qualifying.
After 30 minutes, Valtteri Bottas led from Alex Albon, Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen. However, the cars started their soft tyre runs and gave a slight indication towards their true pace. Lance Stroll took 1st despite catching the grass out of Becketts. Whilst trying to improve from 2nd, Albon had a huge crash out of Stowe. The car completing a full rotation before hitting the wall, destroying the left hand side of his car. This brought out the second red flag in two sessions. This was exactly the sort of incident that the under pressure driver was trying to avoid.
The session restarted with 35 minutes to go and the cars continued their tyre runs. Lewis Hamilton attempted to move up the order, but his car struggled through Luffield. He abandoned his lap and would finish the session 5th. Sebastian Vettel managed to get back on track, but a very shaky lap only promoted him to 18th. He would not improve, marking the end a dire first day for the 4 time World Champion.
The positions would not change as the drivers switched to hard tyres for the remainder of the session. Stroll finished an impressive 1st, in a situation where he will be under constant comparison to his new team-mate. However, this session has left F1 fans with more questions than answers. Which is the second fastest car? How much are Mercedes sandbagging? Can it get much worse for Sebastian Vettel?
Standings:
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- Stroll 1:27.274
- Albon +0.090
- Bottas +0.157
- Leclerc +0.296
- Hamilton +0.307
- Sainz +0.546
- Hulkenberg +0.636
- Gasly +0.723
- Ricciardo +0.838
- Raikkonen +0.885
- Norris +0.895
- Ocon +0.945
- Giovinazzi +0.982
- Verstappen +1.116
- Kvyat +1.152
- Grosjean +1.290
- Russell +1.497
- Vettel +1.586
- Magnussen +1.624
- Latifi +2.684
Featured Image Credit: F1.com
