Homeland Hero Hamilton Best in British Grand Prix Friday Practice
After an awful Austrian Grand Prix, Hamilton posted times in practice for the British GP that make a record five consecutive wins look possible.
Lewis Hamilton was fastest in Friday free practice for the 2018 British Grand Prix, laying a solid foundation for him to achieve a fifth consecutive win of the event. He was tailed by championship leader Sebastian Vettel, just 0.065 seconds behind. Both drivers' Finnish teammates repeated the Mercedes-Ferrari order of the top two.
Max Verstappen experimented with ways to find pace to combat that of Daniel Ricciardo, and took Turn 1 flat, with DRS open. Between a transmission issue in the first practice session and a crash early in the second, Verstappen lost out on track time, completing 26 practice laps to Ricciardo's 61.
After starting from the pit lane in Austria, Fernando Alonso finished eighth. On Friday, he was seventh fastest and best among the midfielders. Less than three-tenths span the gap between seventh and 13th, suggesting Saturday's Q2 session could be intensely competitive.
Down at Haas, Romain Grosjean surprised his teammate Kevin Magnussen with superior pace for the second straight weekend, though he once again damaged his car in a crash, forcing a chassis swap due to which he lost his chance to drive in FP2. Magnussen, however, was busy earning himself another reprimand from the stewards for abnormal, in-your-face driving near Alonso, though he escaped with no more than a slap on the wrist.
A full list of every driver's best time of the day can be found below.
- Lewis Hamilton/Mercedes - 1:27.487, +0.252 in FP2
- Sebastian Vettel/Ferrari - 1:27.552, -0.446 from FP1
- Valtteri Bottas/Mercedes - 1:27.854, +0.055 in FP2
- Kimi Räikkönen/Ferrari - 1:28.045, -0.173 from FP1
- Daniel Ricciardo/Red Bull - 1:28.144, +0.263 in FP2
- Max Verstappen/Red Bull - 1:28.325 (no FP2 appearance)
- Fernando Alonso/McLaren - 1:29.306, -1.016 from FP1
- Romain Grosjean/Haas - 1:29.352 (no FP2 appearance)
- Nico Hülkenberg/Renault - 1:29.354, -1.347 from FP1
- Esteban Ocon/Force India - 1:29.467, -0.348 from FP1
- Sergio Perez/Force India - 1:29.522, -0.290 from FP1
- Charles Leclerc/Alfa Romeo Sauber - 1:29.557, -0.470 from FP1
- Carlos Sainz Jr./Renault - 1:29.563, -0.795 from FP1
- Kevin Magnussen/Haas - 1:29.617, -0.448 from FP1
- Pierre Gasly/Toro Rosso-Honda - 1:29.831, -0.173 from FP1
- Lance Stroll/Williams - 1:29.878, +0.191 in FP2
- Marcus Ericsson/Alfa Romeo Sauber - 1:29.942, +0.104 in FP2
- Sergey Sirotkin/Williams - 1:30.103, -0.914 from FP1
- Stoffel Vandoorne/McLaren - 1:30.121, -0.295 from FP1
- Brendon Hartley/Toro Rosso-Honda - 1:30.404, -0.345 from FP1
