It’s always tricky to deduce too much from the opening session of a race weekend, given the tendency for misleading results – sorry to the man in P2, Lance Stroll – but that’s how Lando Norris and McLaren will have wanted to get things underway at Silverstone.
McLaren has emerged as a solid all-rounder, performing pretty much everywhere. The high-speed demands of Silverstone could hurt a few teams, but the early signs are positive from McLaren. Oscar Piastri ended FP1 in third place despite seeing his session end with five minutes to spare due to a hydraulic problem that left him stranded at the pit exit.
Max Verstappen’s time for P4 on the medium-compound tire, compared to the softs used by Norris at the front, is encouraging for Red Bull, given the margin was only three-tenths of a second. Most anticipate the battle will boil down to Verstappen and Norris once again this weekend.
Stroll’s P2 time may seem like an outlier, but Fernando Alonso’s sixth-place finish in the sister Aston Martin is encouraging for the team after a rotten recent run. There’s optimism that the team might be in better shape this weekend compared to recent races, a mood that FP1 will surely only embolden.
I’m still not entirely sure what to make of Ferrari. Leclerc and Sainz ended that session in P8 and P9. There’s confidence that the upgrade package introduced in Barcelona has been working, with all the numbers pointing to progress. The issue is that it has resulted in a return of the bouncing that blighted teams in the early part of these regulations and has resulted from needing to run as close to the ground as possible through the ground effect regulations. If Ferrari can tame that, we might see it back in the mix at the front.
How to watch FP2
Time: 11 a.m. ET / 4 p.m. BST
TV: ESPN+ / F1 TV / Sky Sports (Europe)
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