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.