Sainz fastest in FP2 as Hamilton and Norris delight home fans

Carlos Sainz topped second practice for the British Grand Prix by narrowly outpacing Lewis Hamilton and Lando Norris around the Silverstone Circuit.

After a rain-hit first session, FP2 took place in much-improved conditions, with the track surface completely dry amid blue skies and pleasant temperatures.

During the Soft-tyre qualifying-style efforts, it was Ferrari driver Sainz who worked down to the fastest time, clocking a 1:28.942.

Hamilton finished 0.163s adrift of Sainz in his updated Mercedes, much to the delight of the capacity crowd.

Norris gets ahead of Verstappen and Leclerc

Norris - running a special 'Pedal Cam' this weekend - was next on the timesheets to add to the home excitement, getting ahead of Red Bull's Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc's Ferrari.

Leclerc finished almost half a second away from teammate Sainz, though did back out of one of his laps on the Soft compound rubber.

Fernando Alonso was 'best of the rest' for Alpine, posting a time marginally quicker than Sergio Perez and George Russell in the other Red Bull and Mercedes machines.

Daniel Ricciardo made it two McLarens in the top 10, which was rounded out by Aston Martin driver Lance Stroll.

Small issues for Hamilton and Vettel

Following Stroll's FP1 spin, there was little drama during the second session, apart from small issues for Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel.

Hamilton reported that a part fell off his car after clattering the kerbs, with television footage showing some carbon fibre sitting in the run-off at Copse.

Meanwhile, Vettel was delayed in the Aston Martin garage while mechanics fixed a suspected issue with his car's floor.