Carlos Sainz Jr, Ferrari, Silverstone, 2022

Sainz leads Hamilton and Norris in second practice at Silverstone

2022 British Grand Prix second practice

Posted on

| Written by

Carlos Sainz Jnr set the pace for Ferrari in the only dry practice session on Friday at Silverstone.

Sainz’s best time on a 1’28.942 saw him go quickest overall ahead of Lewis Hamilton in the Mercedes and Lando Norris in the McLaren. Max Verstappen was fourth fastest in the Red Butrll, just ahead of Charles Leclerc in the second Ferrari.

After earlier rain led to hardly any running in first practice, the sun had finally come out by the time that the second and final session of Formula 1 action got underway, with air temperature just over 19C and the track warming to over 31C.

Unsurprisingly, there was a large rush at the green flag as all 20 drivers took to the circuit as soon as they were able to. All three compounds were on display as drivers enjoyed their first dry laps of the weekend, with Verstappen using the mediums to go immediately fastest of all ahead of team mate Sergio Perez.

Red Bull were then replaced by the two Ferraris of Leclerc and Sainz at the top of the times, also on the medium tyres. Norris had a snap of oversteer through the fast Abbey sweeper, before Verstappen had a similar loss of grip into Village slightly further along the lap.

George Russell complained of being impeded by Yuki Tsunoda into Brooklands on one of his flying laps, before Lando Norris appeared to do the same to the Mercedes driver at Luffield on a subsequent lap.

Just before half way through the session, Norris used the soft tyres to put his McLaren to the top of the times with a 1’29.118, over three tenths faster than Leclerc’s best time on the mediums. Sainz then took to the track on the softs and put Ferrari back on top with a time a tenth faster than his former McLaren team mate.

Two of the biggest names were remaining in the garage during the middle phase of the session – Verstappen reportedly suffered minor damage to his Red Bull’s new floor, while Hamilton’s Mercedes was receiving a lot of attention to the rear by his mechanics. Eventually, both drivers were sent back out onto the circuit with around 20 minutes of the session remaining.

There was concern for McLaren when the rear jack failed when Norris returned to the pits after a run, dropping his car harshly onto the solid surface of his pit box. Thankfully, there did not seem to be any significant damage to the floor of the McLaren as Norris was able to be sent back out soon after.

Hamilton moved to second place on the soft tyres with a lap time just 0.16s off Sainz’s best time, but after running wide at Copse, Hamilton lost a significant chunk of carbon fibre from his Mercedes over the jagged kerbs on the exit of the corner.

Despite plenty of running in the final minutes, no one improved on Sainz’s overall best time. The Ferrari driver therefore held on to end the session as fastest on Friday, just under a tenth-and-a-half quicker than Hamilton in the Mercedes.

Norris held onto third fastest in the McLaren, ahead of Verstappen’s Red Bull and Leclerc’s Ferrari. Fernando Alonso was sixth quickest for Alpine, ahead of Sergio Perez, George Russell, Daniel Ricciardo and Lance Stroll completing the top ten.

2022 British Grand Prix second practice result

PositionNumberDriverTeamModelTimeGapLaps

155Carlos Sainz JnrFerrariF1-751’28.94228
244Lewis HamiltonMercedesW131’29.1050.16321
34Lando NorrisMcLaren-MercedesMCL361’29.1180.17629
41Max VerstappenRed BullRB181’29.1490.20718
516Charles LeclercFerrariF1-751’29.4040.46225
614Fernando AlonsoAlpine-RenaultA5221’29.6950.75319
711Sergio PerezRed BullRB181’29.7530.81117
863George RussellMercedesW131’29.7990.85729
93Daniel RicciardoMcLaren-MercedesMCL361’29.9020.96026
1018Lance StrollAston Martin-MercedesAMR221’29.9421.00017
1177Valtteri BottasAlfa Romeo-FerrariC421’30.0001.05829
125Sebastian VettelAston Martin-MercedesAMR221’30.0571.11520
1331Esteban OconAlpine-RenaultA5221’30.2381.29612
1423Alexander AlbonWilliams-MercedesFW441’30.2631.32114
1524Zhou GuanyuAlfa Romeo-FerrariC421’30.2711.32927
1622Yuki TsunodaAlphaTauri-Red BullAT031’30.3381.39629
1720Kevin MagnussenHaas-FerrariVF-221’30.4801.53827
1810Pierre GaslyAlphaTauri-Red BullAT031’30.5101.56828
1947Mick SchumacherHaas-FerrariVF-221’30.6091.66729
206Nicholas LatifiWilliams-MercedesFW441’31.3262.38427

Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and go ad-free

2022 British Grand Prix

Browse all 2022 British Grand Prix articles

Author information

Will Wood
Will has been a RaceFans contributor since 2012 during which time he has covered F1 test sessions, launch events and interviewed drivers. He mainly...

Got a potential story, tip or enquiry? Find out more about RaceFans and contact us here.

37 comments on “Sainz leads Hamilton and Norris in second practice at Silverstone”

  1. Jensen Button became my hero today when he admitted he doesn’t know the “names” of the corners and straights at Silverstone, confirming what I always thought, that the drivers don’t use them. The British Grand Prix is maddening because of this. Imagine watching the U.S. Grand Prix and hearing an announcer say, “He’s going flat out through Cactus, breaking heavily into Saloon and accelerating into the Six-Shooter Straight.” Please just give us the number of the turn you’re describing. Some of these names are venerable, but some are of recent manufacture to make sure every turn has one. I can’t believe even British fans who have never attended a race there can know where the cars are half the time. I expect to be denounced on this website, but there must be some British fans who feel the same.

    1. I like when the name of the corners are used, be it at Silverstone, Spa, Paul Ricard, Suzuka – or Le Mans. It gives an historical and local flavour. Of course, I don’t know them all. But then again, Spa’s turn seven means nothing to me while Les Combes I know…

      1. Eau Rouge, Parabolica, Variante Ascari, Spoon, Wall of Champions chicane, Tunnel, Swimming Poll, Casino Square in Monaco, Schumacher S on Nurburgring and many others I forgot :)

    2. It’s probably easier for more casual fans to follow if they would use the numbers instead of the names, yes. Having said that, I’ve been watching F1 for years and don’t know what the majority of the corners are called either! It doesn’t really bother me though, I guess it gives more character to circuits than do have names for corners.

    3. I guess it depends what you’re used to. I couldn’t tell you the turn numbers at Silverstone, especially since they moved the start/finish line and added the Mickey Mouse section. I’ve never been able to get my head around Copse being anything other than Turn 1.

      I navigate a lot of the other “classic” tracks (Spa, Monaco, Monza, Imola for example) by corner names as well. But many of the newer circuits I only know by turn numbers, as well as some places like Barcelona and Montreal where the corner names aren’t widely used.

      1. @red-andy absolutely, I would be lost if commentators started using numbers instead of names for any of the traditional tracks. What turn number is the Parabolica?? No idea. It’s sacrilege to suggest we renamed Eau Rouge or 130R or any of them really.

        1. I know the famous names, too, and I don’t want them to disappear. But as Coventry Climax commented, it would be nice if they added the turn number occasionally so the more casual viewer would know where on the track it is. Today, for example, Martin Brundle kept referring to Village. That doesn’t tell the casual viewer where in the lap Village is. If they would say “Coming up to Village at Turn 3,” we would know it’s early in the lap and have a better sense of where the car is on the track.

    4. Either if it’s numbers or names, I don’t know them all, and I’ve watched it for 23 years! But even numbers can become iconic (Turn 8 in Turkey). But there are some turns that you should know by name – 130R, Spoon in Japan. Parabolica in Monza, S of Senna and Bico de Pato in Interlagos. Because you know that history is made in those places.

    5. Well, in Ukraine on one of the sports kart tracks, there’s a corner called Cemetery. Racers only call it that way. And no, there’s noone dead lying around that corner.

    6. Coventry Climax
      1st July 2022, 19:09

      I have much more issues with the car numbers, driver names and positions they run in. Watched the F3 Qualy today.
      I see car no. ‘x’, but can’t find in the onscreen graphics (tower) who it is or which position he’s in. Then they show his name, but that doesn’t correspond to whatever abbreviation is used for this driver.
      That absolutely sucks and is utterly amateuristic.
      F1 does exactly the same, but for F1 I know it all by heart.
      For the casual watcher however, this must be such a massive turnoff.

    7. Coventry Climax
      1st July 2022, 19:18

      To all of the other commenters; why should it be one or the other? Why not use both?
      For Spa, that would be: “1, La Source”.
      The biggest problem is however, that some names are used for a combination of corners, which would make using “7,8,9, Les Combes” a bit of a hassle.
      Anyway, where there’s a will, there’s a solution, and it need not be black or white only.

      1. This is the best answer

      2. I think they should go with colours; same sequence as the rainbow.
        And of course paint the kerb in that turn in the matching colour.

    8. Neil (@neilosjames)
      1st July 2022, 20:57

      I find names far easier to work with. Not just as a British fan with regards Silverstone, but at any track with corner names.

      A name is a name, and I associate it with a certain corner on a certain track. Copse, Portier, Parabolica, Juncao, those names instantly tell me where the incident or interesting thing happened. But if I heard Turn 9, Turn 8, Turn 11 and Turn 12, it’d mean little. Just like I need to consult a track map if someone mentions Turn 13 at Paul Ricard, or Turn 17 at Singapore.

      A number is the same everywhere, and there can’t be too many F1 fans who could instantly point to any corner on any track just from a number. If someone says ‘Turn 12’, whether they’re referring to COTA, or Silverstone, Paul Ricard, Monaco… I have absolutely no idea which corner that is. I’d have to look on a track map, and by the time I’m finished doing that I’ve missed a few corners. Especially with the way modern circuit corners are numbered, where some kinks get a number and some of them don’t. Numbers aren’t always intuitive, which makes them even tougher for me.

      Eg… for me, Massenet at Monaco would be Turn 2 – the second actual corner on the track.
      The track map on the F1 website says Massenet is Turn 3 – it says Beau Rivage (which I consider to be the wavy straight up the hill) is one corner.
      The Automobile Club de Monaco also says Massenet is Turn 3, and Beau Rivage is one corner, but it labels a different kink as Turn 2.
      And if Tilke had designed Monaco the pit straight would be a corner, the first corner would be Turn 2, Beau Rivage would be 3 seperately numbered corners, and Massenet would be Turn 6.

      Far easier for me to just think of them as Massenet and Beau Rivage.

      1. Coventry Climax
        1st July 2022, 23:34

        That’s a matter of getting used to, or re-learn, if you will. That’s why I suggested to combine the name with the number. If you hear it often enough, you’ll learn.
        Or, you could be stubborn (the ISO was founded in 1947, if I remember right) and keep using what you’ve always used. Like psi, mph, inches and such, where the international standards have long ago already been agreed upon. In this case: pascal, km/h, and cm. Same thing: If you don’t (refuse to) use them, you’ll never get a feel for them.

    9. How on Earth do you even know what is turn no. 3 or 7 or any other in the first place, huh?

      No no, don’t answer to me, answer to yourself, because the problem you’ve made up is just silly.

      1. Because most track maps have the numbers next to the corners… silly, I know

      2. I just want to know where on the track a driver is. If the track has 17 turns and he’s on turn 11, I can picture how far along in the lap he is. It’s more silly to think that to follow the race, fans should have to learn names for the approximately 340 corners (not to mention straights) that make up the F1 calendar.

    10. The thing with turn names is that they should mean something. Whenever it comes with tribute names or any of the sort just for the sake of it, then it’s already forgettable.

      Take Interlagos as an example. Almost everything there meant something. The ones which didn’t, like T1 & T2, were scary memorable enough for one to have it permanently registered at mind.

    11. But does a casual fan actually know how many corners there are on the track? Can they visualise where they are on the circuit by numbers alone? Can they even visualise a circuit map? It’s all a much of a muchness.

      When all weekend you hear about the speed through Copse, it sticks in your mind. I can’t even think what T# Copse is, and I know the circuit with my eyes shut.

  2. Fear not, your plight is no different than the majority of us, at least a majority of now 3.

  3. Coventry Climax
    1st July 2022, 19:03

    McLaren ilegally tried to increase the rear track width of their car!
    Just like I used to do in the old days with my VW Beetle: Reverse the wheels on their hubs.
    The rims wouldn’t last that long anymore but hey, it worked!
    ;-)

  4. FP2… great.

    Anyway: Nelson Piquet – Racist, sexist, homophobe:

    No excuses. Those of you that tried to excuse him, via Max’s pathetic comments, I’m looking at you.

    Piquet = Racist: Max = Apologist.

    1. Coventry Climax
      1st July 2022, 23:53

      You’re as black and white as the sunglasses and dress shirt in your avatar.

      Look up what Nelson Mandela had to endure before he became president of SA.
      And guess what; one of the first things he did as president was set up an institution to re-unite the country.
      Now that is a great mind, showing deep insight and meaningful leadership. Very opposite to yelling the ‘hang them, hang them’ that seems to be all we are hearing these days, thanks to ‘social’ media. It’s creating hate and antagonism, instead of unity. It is also a decoy and counter productive to any larger scale issues mankind and the planet faces.

      1. Don’t agree with that. It didn’t help South Africa either, it needs to be stamped out completely for change to happen. Why reward the racists?

      2. So you would suggest, what? We just ignore the comments by a 3 times world champion who is a regular visitor to the paddock? As for the Nelson Mandela quip, yes he was a great man and showed courage in trying to move his country forward. But he most certainly did not ignore the racism and I difference is his country. A willingness to acknowledge there is a problem is the 1st step to solving the problem. Mind you from your comment me thinks you believe ignoring it will magic it away. It won’t.

      3. Look up what Nelson Mandela had to endure before he became president of SA.

        Have you ever been to South Africa?

      4. Yes. People have no idea how their opinions are not really theirs. Mass programming.

      5. ….and that’s where Nelson Mandela messed up, you don’t unite with unrepentant racists. That’s why South Africa is the racist cesspool it is to this day. You must act against racist, there has been enough talk .

  5. This would be a dream grid for Sainz to get back in this title fight. But the big splits among the top teams in times suggests that this doesn’t represent the maximum from the teams. I expect a Leclerc pole and Mercedes back on the third row again, unless Pérez can’t get himself together.

    1. Coventry Climax
      2nd July 2022, 0:12

      As usual, this is just a practice, even though they are bringing it to us as if the standings mean everything in the world.
      So yes, the times suggest they were all doing their own thing. You’ve seen the flow-vis on the cars, those teams had their minds on quite other things than setting the fastest time in practice. Sure, their (and not necessarily the) fastest time is on their mind, but they want to achieve that as an average, on sundays, and not even necessarily coming sunday, as testing is so limited these days. I actually think it’s quite impossible to read all that much from FP2 and it’s timetable, apart from some global things. I think the Merc is still bouncing, despite all the effort put into it thusfar, and I also think the new Williams package has brought them some gains. As to who what sunday’s grid will look like, I don’t know.

      1. DaveW already wrote that the times are likely unrepresentative….

  6. Any info on the long race pace of the teams?

    1. Ferrari were the quickest team in the long runs albeit not by too much. They split their program between their drivers. Sainz made his long runs on the soft and Leclerc on the medium. Verstappen was a tenth slower 1m33.895s than Sainz 1m33.757s on the soft but on a shorter stint. Perez apparently was doing comparisons runs between the simulator and the track as he was running a previous spec floor. Hamilton and Russell were 3 and 4 tenths slower (1m34.057s, 1m34.149s) on the medium and hard respectively.

  7. Hopefully Netflix will allow Mercedes to be more competitive ‘for the show’.

    1. Ok then….

Comments are closed.