Valtteri Bottas continued to hold the advantage over Mercedes Formula 1 team-mate Lewis Hamilton in Second Practice for the British Grand Prix, the Finn narrowly pipping the sister W08 to P1 by 0.047s.
A mistake from Hamilton on his super-soft tyre run cost him the chance to replace Bottas the top of the timing sheets, with the Finn's lap of 1:28.496s enough to see him home to complete the Friday double, after topping FIrst Practice in the morning.
Ferrari improved from it's below par morning, rebounding to third and fourth quickest, Kimi Raikkonen once again ahead of Sebastian Vettel, with 0.460s covering the top four.
The two Red Bull's were fifth and sixth quickest, Max Verstappen in fifth, being the last driver within a second of Bottas, as Daniel Ricciardo was 1.090s slower than Bottas's best time, nearly half a second slower than his team-mate, despite running similiar set-ups, including tyres and fuel loads.
Nico Hulkenberg vaulted up the timing sheets, 17th in First Practice, to take seventh for Renault in the afternoon's 90 minute session, ahead of Felipe Massa, Fernando Alonso and Esteban Ocon who rounded out the top 10 for Williams, McLaren and Force India respectively.
Chapel mistake costs Hamilton
Hamilton was the early pace setter, as brighter conditions at Silverstone alowed for Bottas's FP1 time to be quickly beaten on the opening runs.
He was about half a second clear of Raikkonen after the opening runs, but Bottas was among the first to start the Qualifying simulations.
On his first flying lap, Bottas produced a 1:28.496s, on super-softs, which Hamilton was set to eclipse, before he made a minor mistake exiting Chapel, losing time.
He completed the lap, but was slower than his earlier soft tyre time, and remained 0.047s slower than Bottas.
After this incident, Mercedes did not send Hamilton out for another try, after he reported suspected damage to the floor, and race pace simulations began.
Once these began, there was no change in the timing sheets, except for Carlos Sainz Jr popping himself in 11th place, after an off-track adventure had cut his total session time in half.
Massa vs Verstappen
During the simulations, exiting Club, onto the pit straight, Massa blocked Verstappen, with the two almost making contact. The incident was noted by the stewards.
Late on Raikkonen and Massa echoed Vettel's FP1 trip into the gravel at Chapel, but avoiding the wall, and Jolyon Palmer had a spin at Brooklands after clouting the kerb just a bit too hard.
After loaning his car to Antonio Giovinazzi for FP1, Kevin Magnussen was able to put 33 laps on the board, on his way to 17th quickest, with only Palmer, and the Sauber duo of Marcus Ericsson and Pascal Wehrlein behind him, the Swede and the German swapping places from the first session.
Position | Driver | Team | Time/Gap |
1. | Valtteri Bottas | Mercedes | 1:28.496s |
2. | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | +0.047s |
3. | Kimi Raikkonen | Ferrari | +0.332s |
4. | Sebastian Vettel | Ferrari | +0.460s |
5. | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | +0.602s |
6. | Daniel Ricciardo | Red Bull | +1.090s |
7. | Nico Hulkenberg | Renault | +1.440s |
8. | Felipe Massa | Williams | +1.510s |
9. | Fernando Alonso | McLaren | +1.742s |
10. | Esteban Ocon | Force India | +1.887s |
11. | Carlos Sainz Jr | Toro Rosso | +2.059s |
12. | Danill Kvyat | Toro Rosso | +2.066s |
13. | Sergio Perez | Force India | +2.128s |
14. | Romain Grosjean | Haas | +2.165s |
15. | Lance Stroll | Williams | +2.199s |
16. | Stoffel Vandoorne | McLaren | +2.286s |
17. | Kevin Magnussen | Haas | +2.339s |
18. | Joylon Palmer | Renault | +2.383s |
19. | Marcus Ericsson | Sauber | +3.120s |
20. | Pascal Wehrlein | Sauber | +3.433s |