Max P14 after first day of British Grand Prix: 'It wasn't a bad day'
Published on 31 July 2020 by Stefan Meens
Max Verstappen was fourteenth fastest at the opening Friday of the British Grand Prix.Lance Stroll was quickest around the iconic Silverstone circuit in his Racing Point. Aston Martin Red Bull Racing’s Alexander Albon was second, ahead of Valtteri Bottas in the Mercedes.
“It wasn’t a bad day”, said Max after FP2. “The car works a lot better so I’m happy with that. There are a couple of things we can improve, but we’ll work in that. The long runs weren’t too bad either, so it was generally a positive day.”
When the pitlane opens for FP2, the teams are in no rush to send their drivers out on track. Eventually, it is Renault that order Daniel Ricciardo to venture out onto the Silverstone circuit.
Charles Leclerc, Ferrari, is the first driver to cause a yellow flag in the afternoon session after a harmless spin.
In the meantime, Red Bull Racing has send both its drivers out onto the Silverstone circuit. Both clock laps that propel them to a provisional P1. Nevertheless, both drivers complain about understeer in the slower corners.
After half an hour, Alex Albon is the first Red Bull to give the soft Pirellis a go in FP2. The youngster utilises the extra grip to dethrone Valtteri Bottas at the top of the leader boards with his opening flying lap.
Meanwhile, Max is on his flying lap, sporting the soft compound as well, before being blocked by Romain Grosjean. The Haas driver cruises in the middle of the Maggots and Becketts sequence, forcing Max to slow down. The Dutchman is not impressed by the Frenchman and makes his anger known by gesticulating wildly as he overtakes the Haas.
After cooling his tyres in the remainder of the aborted lap, Max gears up for another flying lap. Sadly this time, the lap has to be aborted again. This time, a red flag is the cause; Alex Albon has crashed heavily on the exit of Stowe corner.
In the closing stages, after the track is cleared, most drivers venture on long runs, resulting in the lap times not improving. Max heads out on a set of mediums but is unable to better his fastest effort, meaning he finishes Friday in fourteenth place.
British GP contest: win a RBR Max Verstappen orange T-shirt!
Results second free practice Great Britain:
| pos | driver | team | time | gap | laps | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lance Stroll | STR | Racing Point BWT Mercedes | 1:27.274 | 29 | |
| 2 | Alexander Albon | ALB | Red Bull Racing Honda | 1:27.364 | +0.090s | 13 |
| 3 | Valtteri Bottas | BOT | Mercedes | 1:27.431 | +0.157s | 30 |
| 4 | Charles Leclerc | LEC | Ferrari | 1:27.570 | +0.296s | 30 |
| 5 | Lewis Hamilton | HAM | Mercedes | 1:27.581 | +0.307s | 27 |
| 6 | Carlos Sainz | SAI | McLaren Renault | 1:27.820 | +0.546s | 35 |
| 7 | Nico Hulkenberg | HUL | Racing Point BWT Mercedes | 1:27.910 | +0.636s | 28 |
| 8 | Pierre Gasly | GAS | AlphaTauri Honda | 1:27.997 | +0.723s | 31 |
| 9 | Daniel Ricciardo | RIC | Renault | 1:28.112 | +0.838s | 30 |
| 10 | Kimi Räikkönen | RAI | Alfa Romeo Racing Ferrari | 1:28.159 | +0.885s | 35 |
| 11 | Lando Norris | NOR | McLaren Renault | 1:28.169 | +0.895s | 26 |
| 12 | Esteban Ocon | OCO | Renault | 1:28.219 | +0.945s | 35 |
| 13 | Antonio Giovinazzi | GIO | Alfa Romeo Racing Ferrari | 1:28.256 | +0.982s | 31 |
| 14 | Max Verstappen | VER | Red Bull Racing Honda | 1:28.390 | +1.116s | 23 |
| 15 | Daniil Kvyat | KVY | AlphaTauri Honda | 1:28.426 | +1.152s | 29 |
| 16 | Romain Grosjean | GRO | Haas Ferrari | 1:28.564 | +1.290s | 27 |
| 17 | George Russell | RUS | Williams Mercedes | 1:28.771 | +1.497s | 26 |
| 18 | Sebastian Vettel | VET | Ferrari | 1:28.860 | +1.586s | 23 |
| 19 | Kevin Magnussen | MAG | Haas Ferrari | 1:28.898 | +1.624s | 27 |
| 20 | Nicholas Latifi | LAT | Williams Mercedes | 1:29.958 | +2.684s | 35 |
