The 2025 Formula 1 World Championship resumed this afternoon with the second free practice session of the British Grand Prix at the historic Silverstone Circuit. Ferrari concluded the earlier session, FP1, on a strong note, with the fastest time recorded by Lewis Hamilton, who also demonstrated a competitive and consistent performance during his race pace simulations. The seven-time Formula 1 World Champion, who has secured victory on this track on nine separate occasions over the course of his illustrious career, may find it challenging to reach a tenth win this weekend. However, optimism remains within the Ferrari garage, as the SF-25 has arguably never shown such promising form at the beginning of a race weekend during the current Formula 1 season.
Capitalising on the Momentum from Free Practice 1
Scuderia Ferrari’s Monegasque driver Charles Leclerc also performed well in the morning, finishing fourth fastest on the timesheets, behind his teammate Lewis Hamilton and the usual duo of McLaren drivers. This second session of free practice, detailed in the following analysis, offered valuable insight into whether the positive sensations observed in FP1 by Ferrari could be confirmed during the second hour of track time. FP2 placed greater emphasis on more representative qualifying simulations and, more significantly, provided a clearer picture of long-run performance ahead of Sunday’s race.
Now let’s take a detailed look at how events unfolded for the Italian side in the second free practice session for the British GP.
Both Ferrari SF-25 cars began their activity in FP2 by heading out on the track fitted with a brand-new set of Medium compound Pirelli tyres. The tyre warm-up phase was relatively aggressive, followed by immediate preparation for a flying lap. Lewis Hamilton delivered a nearly flawless lap, with only a minor error in traction at the exit of the final corner. In contrast, Charles Leclerc appeared more physically involved in steering input between corners 3 and 4, and he ended the lap approximately two-tenths of a second slower than his teammate Lewis Hamilton.
The overall balance of the SF-25 Formula 1 car continued to appear well-calibrated, although Lewis Hamilton did report a degree of understeer in turn 15 during radio communication with his Ferrari race engineer. On the following run, Charles Leclerc encountered traffic, forcing him to lift off and abandon the attempt. Meanwhile, Lewis Hamilton completed another push lap but encountered some instability through the slower corners of the first sector. Despite these minor difficulties, his performance remained solid and competitive. Over the team radio, Charles Leclerc reported inadequate rotation through turn 13, although analysis suggested he was losing even more time in other sections of the Silverstone layout.
For Charles Leclerc, the most critical corners causing performance issues were turns 4, 6, 7, 16, and 17. In response to these handling concerns, he requested an increase in front-end grip, asking for a “+4 clicks” adjustment on the front wing angle. By comparison, Lewis Hamilton opted for a more conservative change, requesting only a single-step alteration. Ferrari race engineer Riccardo Adami advised Lewis Hamilton to use the rotary selector on the right-hand side of the steering wheel to access preconfigured differential settings, which could help improve corner rotation, particularly in the opening sector. However, just before they could attempt another flying lap, Spanish Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz ran off the track, triggering a double yellow flag scenario.
As a result, Lewis Hamilton was forced to abort his lap attempt, while Charles Leclerc managed to complete his own lap despite encountering significant oversteer in turn 3—possibly the most problematic corner for the SF-25 at this circuit. In the central sector of the Silverstone track layout, the car’s behaviour improved significantly, with the high-speed Copse corner taken at full throttle. Overall, the car’s drivability remained satisfactory. Lewis Hamilton went on to complete another flying lap shortly afterward and once again posted a faster time than his Scuderia Ferrari teammate Charles Leclerc. The performance of the SF-25 with the Medium compound tyres continued to validate the encouraging signs seen earlier in the day during FP1.
Soft Tyres Fitted for Qualifying Simulation Work
Following a short break in the garage, both Ferrari SF-25 cars returned to the Silverstone circuit equipped with the Soft compound Pirelli tyres. Historically, the Maranello team has found it difficult to maximise the performance of this red-banded compound compared to the yellow Medium tyres. The build-up phase to the flying lap proceeded without incident. However, early data confirmed existing expectations: in the first sector, the SF-25 showed a tendency to struggle with front-end rotation. Lewis Hamilton, dissatisfied with the car’s responsiveness even in the middle sector, ultimately decided to abort his flying lap attempt.
On the other hand, Charles Leclerc completed his flying lap but immediately reported an issue with the front-left tyre, describing it as lacking responsiveness. This particular tyre plays a crucial role in extracting peak performance from the SF-25 in this configuration. As a result, Charles Leclerc requested a front-end downforce increase of four clicks. While Lewis Hamilton circulated slowly to bring down the tyre temperatures, understeer was still apparent in turn 13—right in the heart of the high-speed Becketts section.
Lewis Hamilton launched another attack but encountered slower traffic in the first and second sectors, which compromised his lap despite slight improvements in overall car handling. Not long after, Charles Leclerc took to the track again and managed to slightly improve his second sector time. Nevertheless, a major concern remained for the Ferrari engineers: the challenge of optimising the use of Soft tyres, which at this stage seemed incapable of providing the Italian cars with the necessary grip to reach their full potential during qualifying simulations.
Race Simulation on Medium Tyres Highlights Tyre Fragility
For the long-run simulations, both Ferrari drivers began with Medium compound tyres. The Ferrari pit wall instructed both drivers to conduct a conservative out-lap, targeting a lap time of around 1.31.6. However, both ignored that instruction and pushed harder than expected: Lewis Hamilton clocked a 1.30.7, while Charles Leclerc posted an even quicker 1.30.4. During the first three laps, Lewis Hamilton reported over the team radio a lack of rotation at the front end and the onset of graining, a tyre degradation phenomenon that had already been anticipated by the Ferrari engineering team in their pre-weekend analysis.
Lap times began to rise gradually, which is an indication that a more cautious approach from the beginning may have been more beneficial. After five laps, Lewis Hamilton noticed the McLaren of Lando Norris closing in behind him in the mirrors and opted to back off. He returned to the Ferrari garage to switch to Soft tyres. Simultaneously, the front wing angle was altered by two clicks. The Medium tyres that had just been removed showed significant and visible wear, although it should be noted that the set had already been used earlier in the session.
It is plausible that the initial aggressive push from both Ferrari drivers was part of a planned experiment to study how the Medium compound would react under heavy stress during the opening laps. Charles Leclerc, meanwhile, remained on track. Comparing his initial four laps to those of McLaren driver Lando Norris, Charles Leclerc emerged slightly faster on average. His pace did drop slightly over the next few laps, but it is important to emphasise that his tyres were in a more worn condition than those used by his direct competitors.
Final Thoughts and Conclusion
In summary, Ferrari once again confirmed that the SF-25 car holds solid potential over a single lap during qualifying simulations. However, further improvements are still required in terms of tyre activation and the effective management of the Soft compound tyres. As far as race pace is concerned, various unknowns persist and will require more detailed analysis by the team’s engineering department. Even in this area, the balance of the SF-25 under heavy fuel load conditions still needs refinement—particularly when compared with the McLaren MCL39, which continues to demonstrate superior tyre preservation and overall race performance consistency throughout the 2025 Formula 1 season.
And you? What do you think about how Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton performed in FP2 for the British Grand Prix? Let us know with a comment at the end of the article or on our social media channels: Facebook Group / Facebook Page / Instagram / X (former Twitter)
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