Stroll finished just ahead of Red Bull’s Alex Albon and Valtteri Bottas in his Mercedes.
SILVERSTONE, England—July 31st—Racing Point continued to impress during Friday practice as Lance Stroll set the fastest time of the day with a 1:27:274 during the second session.
Stroll at Silverstone on Friday (photo, Yahoo! Sports)
The afternoon went well until Albon lost control at Stowe corner and smashed the left side of his Red Bull against the wall, which prompted a red flag session for a few minutes.
Max Verstappen, who took the morning session, was improving on his time when he encountered Romain Grosjean in what turned out to be an angry encounter. The American Hass driver had fairly took his car through Maggots and Becketts corner just in front of Verstappen, but the Dutchman did not interpret the move as fair and gestured angrily at Grosjean, who eventually finished 16th.
For Ferrari, Sebastian Vettel continued his bad fortune at this track by missing the opening session with car trouble. After a pedal change, the car was too much of a handful, and Vettel could do no better than 18th in the afternoon session.
Vettel’s partner Charles Leclerc fared better by taking fourth. Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton finished a rare fifth after encountering a faulty MGU-K system, which will be upgraded for the rest of the weekend.
Carlos Sainz Jr. took sixth in his McLaren, followed by Nico Hulkenberg, who was substituting for Sergio Perez in the second Racing Point. Perez spent a few days in Mexico and then tested positive for COVID-19 upon his return. He’ll miss Sunday’s race as well as next weekend’s action, which will also take place at Silverstone.
Pierre Gasly finished eighth in his Alpha Tauri, followed by Daniel Ricciardo and Kimi Raikkonen in ninth and tenth, respectively. Grosjean’s Haas F1 teammate, Kevin Magnussen, finished 19th.
Qualifying takes place on Saturday, with the race scheduled for Sunday. No fans will be in the stands at this popular racing venue.
