Mercedes sustained their position on top of the times in the second practice session for the 70th Anniversary Grand Prix, but Lewis Hamilton moved ahead of team mate Valtteri Bottas.
Meanwhile another disappointing session for Sebastian Vettel ended when his Ferrari engine let go at the exit of Luffield.“Big failure in the back of the car,” he told the team as he pulled to a stop. “Probably it’s either engine or gearbox but something in the car didn’t feel right.” The car left a significant amount of oil on the high-speed run through Copse.
After initially triggering a Virtual Safety Car period, race control then red-flagged the session and, with just a few minuted remaining confirmed it would not be restarted. In the meantime Antonio Giovinazzi’s Alfa Romeo had also come to a stop at Becketts.
Behind the Mercedes pair, Daniel Ricciardo’s Renault knocked Max Verstappen back into fourth place. The Racing Point pair followed them, Nico Hulkenberg sixth after pitting early with a loose seat.
Charles Leclerc was the lead Ferrari again in seventh place, while Vettel was almost four-tenths of a second away from his team mate. The McLaren pair and Esteban Ocon completed the top 10.
Romain Grosjean was the quicker of the two Haas drivers in 15th, but was alarmed by the handling of his car at times. “That is not acceptable from a Formula 1 car,” he said at one point, urging his team to investigate the cause of his problems.
By the end of the session conditions had cooled more than expected, with air temperatures falling below 30C and the asphalt slipping to 34C. Nonetheless the soft tyres took a hammering, and blisters were evident particularly on drivers’ right-rear tyres.
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Second practice visual gaps
Lewis Hamilton – 1’25.606
+0.176 Valtteri Bottas – 1’25.782
+0.815 Daniel Ricciardo – 1’26.421
+0.831 Max Verstappen – 1’26.437
+0.895 Lance Stroll – 1’26.501
+1.140 Nico Hulkenberg – 1’26.746
+1.206 Charles Leclerc – 1’26.812
+1.261 Lando Norris – 1’26.867
+1.312 Carlos Sainz Jnr – 1’26.918
+1.322 Esteban Ocon – 1’26.928
+1.354 Alexander Albon – 1’26.960
+1.396 Daniil Kvyat – 1’27.002
+1.522 Pierre Gasly – 1’27.128
+1.592 Sebastian Vettel – 1’27.198
+1.688 Romain Grosjean – 1’27.294
+1.714 George Russell – 1’27.320
+1.929 Kimi Raikkonen – 1’27.535
+1.976 Kevin Magnussen – 1’27.582
+2.077 Nicholas Latifi – 1’27.683
+2.349 Antonio Giovinazzi – 1’27.955
Drivers more then ten seconds off the pace omitted.
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2020 70th Anniversary Grand Prix
- 2020 70th Anniversary Grand Prix Star Performers
- Williams expect to compete for points “on merit” soon
- Wolff “happy to go to court” as Horner calls for FIA to examine Mercedes’ role in Racing Point case
- Albon eager to understand how his “amazing” Red Bull improved
- Verstappen at his irrepressible best as tyres trip Mercedes
hunocsi (@hunocsi)
7th August 2020, 16:47
?? They went back to green flag when Vettel’s car was cleared, and stopped when Giovinazzi’s car stopped in the middle of the run-off area.
BasCB (@bascb)
7th August 2020, 17:06
So now Hulk is only 2 tenths down on Lance after 4 2 fridays and a saturday in the car. Getting up to speed real soon. I hope he takes another step tomorrow.
Sush Meerkat
7th August 2020, 17:18
I fully expect Lance to dominate next year if Vettel joins the team
Carlos Medrano (@carlosmedrano)
7th August 2020, 18:17
Hulk is a great driver, stroll is not. I didn’t expect hulk to be faster this quick though
Edvaldo
7th August 2020, 18:38
Stroll is slow. He was slower than Massa, who shouldn’t even be racing in ’17. Was slower than Sirotkin, was/is slower than perez and will be slower than Vettel.
But he is a decent points graber. Always running on lower positions than the car is capable of, but brings something.
Jeanrien (@jeanrien)
7th August 2020, 20:45
The best word to describe Stroll is “Opportunist”, he isn’t fast but he takes his chance when it presents itself. Good on first laps, and staying out of trouble, hence his podium in Baku.
Adam (@rocketpanda)
7th August 2020, 18:10
So last week Vettel’s car barely did anything in practice and this week it fails and sprays oil across the track. The guy is having zero luck at all.
Andrey Baydin (@minilemm)
7th August 2020, 18:39
The headline for the 2020 season innit has now been written innit.