The second practice session at Silverstone brought the full-time drivers back into action, with Yuki Tsunoda returning to the Red Bull and Nico Hülkenberg back in the Sauber after sitting out FP1. Their places had been filled in the morning session by Arvid Lindblad and Paul Aron, who both made their Formula 1 debuts.

The session began with almost all teams heading out on medium tyres, apart from Haas who delayed their start. Early on, there was a dramatic moment when Carlos Sainz spun at Turn 7, coming very close to Lewis Hamilton. He then rejoined the track just in front of Nico Hulkenberg, forcing the German to take avoiding action. The incident caught the attention of the stewards and is now under review.

Lewis Hamilton picked up where he left off in FP1, going fastest early on with a strong lap on medium tyres. His time of 1:27.280 became the benchmark as others began to push. Liam Lawson found himself frustrated with Oliver Bearman, accusing him of getting in the way, and Max Verstappen wasn’t happy either, complaining that his front tyres weren’t responding well at high speed.

As drivers began switching to soft tyres, the pace improved quickly. Kimi Antonelli and George Russell were the first to make the change for Mercedes, and it was Antonelli who shot to the top of the timesheets with a 1:26.383, despite a slide in the final sector. Isack Hadjar continued his strong form for Racing Bulls, slotting into third at that stage.

Charles Leclerc responded by going quickest for Ferrari, but the gap remained small, with Antonelli close behind. Oscar Piastri also joined the fight at the front, falling just 0.084 seconds short of Leclerc. The Ferrari driver told his team over the radio that there was still more time to find if they solved an issue on the front left of his car.

Then came a stunning lap from Lando Norris. With three purple sectors, the McLaren driver jumped to the top with a time of 1:25.816, putting a clear gap between himself and the rest of the field. Max Verstappen found more pace in his Red Bull, but was still half a second behind Norris. Hamilton closed the gap on his next lap, reducing Norris’ lead to three tenths, while Leclerc also improved to come within two tenths of the McLaren.

The final part of the session focused on longer runs and race simulations, with no changes to the top of the order. Lando Norris remained fastest, giving McLaren a boost heading into qualifying. Charles Leclerc finished second for Ferrari, and Lewis Hamilton rounded out the top three.

Oscar Piastri took fourth place in the second McLaren, just ahead of Max Verstappen in fifth for Red Bull. Kimi Antonelli’s strong run put him sixth for Mercedes, with Lance Stroll seventh in the upgraded Aston Martin. George Russell was eighth, Isack Hadjar ninth, and Liam Lawson completed the top ten.