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At last year’s British Grand Prix, as part of the first-ever running of Formula 1’s new sprint race structure, drivers only got a single hour of practice on Friday before a second hour on Saturday morning. Advert | Become a Supporter & go ad-free In 2022, the British Grand Prix is not a sprint event (next weekend’s race in Austria will be). However, due to the rain falling at the worst possible time, teams effectively only enjoyed a single hour of practice again on Friday with the first practice session amounting to little more than a sodden shakedown. Thankfully, teams managed to make up for lost time in the evening’s second practice session and it was an hour that provided plenty of intrigue for the rest of the weekend – especially towards the front of the field. The only dry session of the day may not have seen any of the 20 drivers end up in the gravel or worse, but the wind and the jagged kerbs on the exit of the many fast corners around the Silverstone … [Read more...] about Mercedes and McLaren gains raise prospect of closest qualifying yet – rain or shine · RaceFans

Carlos Sainz Jnr set the pace for Ferrari in the only dry practice session on Friday at Silverstone. Advert | Become a Supporter & go ad-free 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 … [Read more...] about Sainz leads Hamilton and Norris in second practice at Silverstone · RaceFans