FP2: Norris sets the pace during second practice at Silverstone ahead of Piastri and Perez

Lando Norris continued his run at the top of the timesheets on Friday at Silverstone by going fastest in second practice, setting the pace ahead of McLaren team mate Oscar Piastri and Red Bull's Sergio Perez.

With the risk of rain still at 60 percent – as had been the case in FP1 – it was a busy start to Free Practice 2, as the teams and drivers looked to get their programmes under way ahead of any potential showers arriving.

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Most of the field hit the circuit with the medium tyres bolted on for their opening runs, and Max Verstappen set an early benchmark for Red Bull, going fastest on a lap of 1m 27.831s. Charles Leclerc, meanwhile, had a moment through Maggots and Becketts in the Ferrari, having reported struggling in high-speed sections.

The Monegasque’s Scuderia team mate Carlos Sainz suggested that the track seemed to be getting slower in the windy conditions. Soon afterwards, Verstappen became the first driver to switch to the soft tyre – a compound he did not run during FP1 – before promptly going fastest of all.

Aston Martin endured a challenging weekend last time out in Austria, but the team caught the eye during practice at Silverstone. Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll both found themselves near the top end of the timesheets at certain points in FP2, following on from Stroll’s P2 result in first practice.

As focus switched to the fast lap runs, it was FP1 pace-setter Norris who had gone quickest by the halfway point of the session, pumping in a lap of 1m 26.549s. Just a few minutes later, a slight off for the McLaren driver resulted in him asking the team to check the floor.

FP1: Norris goes fastest from Stroll and Piastri during first practice at Silverstone

Elsewhere, RB's Daniel Ricciardo was warned that rain was on the way towards the end of the session, perhaps explaining why a range of different run plans were being played out, though many drivers were still embarking on their race simulations as usual during the latter stages of the hour.

Rain did indeed fall in the last minutes, but Norris managed to hold position in P1 as second practice came to a close, leading the way by 0.331s from team mate Piastri.

Perez followed in third as the lead Red Bull, just marginally ahead of Haas’s Nico Hulkenberg in a very strong fourth, while future team mates Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton were fifth and sixth for Ferrari and Mercedes respectively.

Verstappen claimed P7, from Sainz in P8 and Stroll in P9, with the Mercedes of George Russell rounding out the top-10. Alonso just missed out in P11, as did the Kick Sauber of Valtteri Bottas in P12.

Alex Albon slotted into 13th place for Williams – in a car sporting a special Union Jack livery for the event – and the Alpine pair of Pierre Gasly and Esteban Ocon followed in 14th and 15th. Gasly will start Sunday's race from the back of the grid thanks to taking on a new power unit.

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Yuki Tsunoda returned to action following his spin into the gravel in FP1 and took P16 on the timesheets for RB, ahead of the Williams of Logan Sargeant, Kick Sauber’s Zhou Guanyu, Ricciardo in the RB and the Haas of Kevin Magnussen.

With Friday’s track action at Silverstone complete, the drivers and teams will have the opportunity to assess their data before they return for third and final practice on Saturday at 1130 local time, ahead of qualifying later in the day.