Verstappen sweeps Friday practice for British GP as trouble strikes Leclerc

Max Verstappen narrowly pipped Carlos Sainz to top spot in Free Practice 2 for the 2023 British Grand Prix at Silverstone, as Williams impressed and trouble struck Charles Leclerc.

Verstappen's 1:28.078 effort on Soft tyres was just 0.022s quicker than Sainz in the sole Ferrari could manage as Charles Leclerc missed the session with an electrical issue.

Behind them, Alex Albon continued Williams' impressive day by clocking the third quickest time, just 0.218s down on the Red Bull, as Logan Sargeant backed up his teammate with fifth - Sergio Perez the filling in the sandwich.

George Russell ended as top British driver for Mercedes in 12th, with Lando Norris 14th and Lewis Hamilton 15th.

Sainz looks good

After the first flurry of laps, it was Verstappen who topped the times, just the 0.464s up on Perez on a 1:29.550 efforts armed with the Mediums.

But Sainz was quickest after this run, eclipsing Verstappen with a 1:29.083 with Perez slotting in behind as the field turned their attention to the Soft tyre Qualifying runs.

Fernando Alonso was the first to post a time, but was 0.051s slower than Sainz, with the benchmark being set on the yellow-marked Mediums.

Next up was Verstappen whose 1:28.078 took him over a second clear of the field albeit briefly as Sainz grabbed second just 0.022s down with Albon 0.218s and Perez 0.264s behind.

Sargeant in fifth was 0.688s down.

The field soon settled into their race simulations with Verstappen's time standing as the fastest.

Hulkenberg stars with seventh

Lance Stroll took sixth for Aston Martin - despite a mirror problem - as Nico Hulkenberg showed off the Haas's pace over a single lap with seventh after finishing last in FP1.

Pierre Gasly, Oscar Piastri and Fernando Alonso rounded out the top 10 - Alonso being told to slow at one point with a potential issue on the front-left.

Zhou Guanyu was 11th, quicker than George Russell by just 0.013s.

Russell complained of a lack of grip from the Mercedes W14, ending 1.160s down on the Verstappen benchmark, but still ended as top British driver.

Esteban Ocon was 13th, ahead of McLaren's Lando Norris and Lewis Hamilton down in 14th and 15th, respectively.

Valtteri Bottas was 16th for Alfa Romeo with Kevin Magnussen and Yuki Tsunoda just behind.

The slowest of the 19 drivers to record a time was Nyck de Vries, some 1.493s down on Verstappen as Leclerc did not set a single lap before the electrical problems struck, keeping the Monegasque out of the session.

De Vries suffered a late issue with a left-front puncture after picking up debris, but was able to limp back to the pits.