Max Verstappen irrelevantly fastest as F1 prepares for maiden sprint

Max Verstappen in actie op Silverstone. — Photo: © LAT Images

British Grand Prix

Verstappen irrelevantly fastest as F1 prepares for maiden sprint

Long runs and tyres dominated FP2

Ian Parkes

Saturday 17 July 2021 14:02 Updated: 15:44

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Max Verstappen set the fastest lap in second practice for the British Grand Prix in which the times were irrelevant as the teams focused on F1's maiden sprint race.

It was an unusual session at Silverstone as it became a tyre and fuel fact-finding mission.

With qualifying completed on Friday and the grid locked, all 20 cars immediately entered parc fermé, meaning no set-up changes could be made.

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So the 10 teams and 20 drivers spent most of the hour-long session conducting long runs identifying the best Pirelli rubber on which to start F1's first sprint race.

Arguably, doing so erased an element of surprise and risk as a number of drivers indicated they would start on the soft tyres in order to try and make up positions to gain a better grid slot for Sunday's grand prix.

But for the 17 laps of the sprint, it is unlikely those tyres will last, in particular, due to the high air and track temperatures, with Silverstone basking in 25 degrees.

With the teams gaining the crucial information required, the majority of the drivers are likely to start on the medium - with just a few gambling on the soft - potentially leading to the forecasted train of a race after the initial melée on the first lap.

For comparison, Verstappen's leading lap time of one minute 29.902secs on the medium was just over three seconds off the pace of Lewis Hamilton's qualifying best, with the seven-time F1 champion to lead away the field for the sprint.

Verstappen initially conducted a 14-lap run on the medium tyres before a late nine-lap blast on the hard tyres in order to obtain information on that rubber for the grand prix.

Ferrari duo Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz were second and third quickest, on the medium and soft tyres respectively, albeit 0.375s and 0.605s behind Verstappen's pace.

Alpine's Esteban Ocon and Verstappen's Red Bull team-mate Sergio Perez were the only other drivers to finish within a second of the Dutch driver.

Mercedes duo Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas were eighth and ninth, on the soft and hard tyres respectively, both 1.2s adrift of Verstappen.

Aston Martin's Sebastian Vettel completed the most laps with 34, but was 1.691s down in 17th, with Haas driver Mick Schumacher bringing up the rear over four seconds back.