Alfa Romeo’s Valtteri Bottas was fastest in a wet FP1, while Sainz topped FP2 in much dryer weather conditions. Hamilton, McLaren’s Lando Norris and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen were next up.
British Grand Prix FP1 results: Bottas fastest from Hamilton
| Cla | Driver | Chassis | Laps | Time | Gap | Interval | km/h |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Valtteri Bottas | Alfa Romeo | 9 | 1'42.249 | 207.411 | ||
| 2 |  Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 10 | 1'42.781 | 0.532 | 0.532 | 206.337 |
| 3 |  Carlos Sainz | Ferrari | 8 | 1'42.967 | 0.718 | 0.186 | 205.965 |
| 4 |  Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | 7 | 1'43.801 | 1.552 | 0.834 | 204.310 |
| 5 |  Mick Schumacher | Haas | 3 | 1'43.895 | 1.646 | 0.094 | 204.125 |
| 6 |  Zhou Guanyu | Alfa Romeo | 4 | 1'46.171 | 3.922 | 2.276 | 199.749 |
| 7 |  Kevin Magnussen | Haas | 3 | 1'48.161 | 5.912 | 1.990 | 196.074 |
| 8 |  Lance Stroll | Aston Martin | 5 | 1'51.243 | 8.994 | 3.082 | 190.642 |
| 9 |  Yuki Tsunoda | AlphaTauri | 5 | 1'51.373 | 9.124 | 0.130 | 190.419 |
| 10 | Sebastian Vettel | Aston Martin | 5 | 1'59.168 | 16.919 | 7.795 | 177.963 |
| 11 | George Russell | Mercedes | 2 | ||||
| 12 |  Sergio Perez | Red Bull | 3 | ||||
| 13 |  Esteban Ocon | Alpine | 2 | ||||
| 14 | Fernando Alonso | Alpine | 1 | ||||
| 15 |  Alex Albon | Williams | 1 | ||||
| 16 |  Daniel Ricciardo | McLaren | 4 | ||||
| 17 | Pierre Gasly | AlphaTauri | 3 | ||||
| 18 | Lando Norris | McLaren | 4 | ||||
| 19 | Nicholas Latifi | Williams | 1 | ||||
| 20 |  Max Verstappen | Red Bull | 3 | ||||
| View full results | |||||||
What happened in British GP Free Practice 1?
Rain at the start of the session soaked half of the circuit but the other side of the track remained dry, which severely limited running across the hour.
Sainz set the bar at 1m42.967s on intermediate tyres, ahead of Bottas on 1m43.437s and teammate Leclerc on 1m43.801s.
Hamilton was the first to take slicks with just over five minutes remaining, as Bottas improved to P1 on 1m42.249s on inters.
Hamilton set 1m42.781 – the only driver to set a time on slicks – to take P2, 0.532s off Bottas’s pace. Sainz and Leclerc finished third and fourth, ahead of Mick Schumacher’s Haas.
Lance Stroll beached his Aston Martin after spinning at Copse, causing a red flag that halted the session prematurely.
British Grand Prix FP2 results: Sainz fastest from Hamilton
| Cla | Driver | Chassis | Laps | Time | Gap | Interval | km/h |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Carlos Sainz | Ferrari | 28 | 1'28.942 | 238.443 | ||
| 2 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 21 | 1'29.105 | 0.163 | 0.163 | 238.006 |
| 3 | Lando Norris | McLaren | 29 | 1'29.118 | 0.176 | 0.013 | 237.972 |
| 4 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | 18 | 1'29.149 | 0.207 | 0.031 | 237.889 |
| 5 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | 25 | 1'29.404 | 0.462 | 0.255 | 237.210 |
| 6 | Fernando Alonso | Alpine | 19 | 1'29.695 | 0.753 | 0.291 | 236.441 |
| 7 | Sergio Perez | Red Bull | 17 | 1'29.753 | 0.811 | 0.058 | 236.288 |
| 8 | George Russell | Mercedes | 29 | 1'29.799 | 0.857 | 0.046 | 236.167 |
| 9 | Daniel Ricciardo | McLaren | 26 | 1'29.902 | 0.960 | 0.103 | 235.896 |
| 10 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin | 17 | 1'29.942 | 1.000 | 0.040 | 235.791 |
| 11 | Valtteri Bottas | Alfa Romeo | 29 | 1'30.000 | 1.058 | 0.058 | 235.640 |
| 12 | Sebastian Vettel | Aston Martin | 20 | 1'30.057 | 1.115 | 0.057 | 235.490 |
| 13 | Esteban Ocon | Alpine | 12 | 1'30.238 | 1.296 | 0.181 | 235.018 |
| 14 | Alex Albon | Williams | 14 | 1'30.263 | 1.321 | 0.025 | 234.953 |
| 15 | Zhou Guanyu | Alfa Romeo | 27 | 1'30.271 | 1.329 | 0.008 | 234.932 |
| 16 | Yuki Tsunoda | AlphaTauri | 29 | 1'30.338 | 1.396 | 0.067 | 234.758 |
| 17 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas | 27 | 1'30.480 | 1.538 | 0.142 | 234.389 |
| 18 | Pierre Gasly | AlphaTauri | 28 | 1'30.510 | 1.568 | 0.030 | 234.312 |
| 19 | Mick Schumacher | Haas | 29 | 1'30.609 | 1.667 | 0.099 | 234.056 |
| 20 | Nicholas Latifi | Williams | 27 | 1'31.326 | 2.384 | 0.717 | 232.218 |
| View full results | |||||||
What happened in British GP Free Practice 2?
In dry and sunny conditions, Verstappen set the early pace at 1m31.438s on medium slicks. It was quickly beaten by Leclerc on 1m30.786s, on the same compound, who was 0.094s faster than teammate Sainz.
Sainz improved to 1m29.962s on a second push lap, with Verstappen over half a second shy. Leclerc took P1 back with 1m29.639s, and then improved to 1m29.462s. Sainz did likewise to take P2, 0.081s in arrears, ahead of Verstappen who was over four tenths off in third.
Norris then enjoyed an early glory run on soft tyres in front of his home fans, taking the fastest time with 1m29.118s. Sainz had a big moment at Copse, setting a new P1 time at 1m29.014s despite this, before producing a 1m28.942s on a second push lap to extend his advantage at the top.
Hamilton went P2 with 1m29.105s, 0.163s down on Sainz but just clear of Norris.
Verstappen only managed 1m29.149s for fourth, two tenths off the pace. Leclerc had a poor first soft-tyre run, and languished in fifth, over four tenths away from his teammate’s best time.
