Ferrari impressed during the second free practice session (FP2) of the 2025 Formula 1 British Grand Prix at Silverstone. The SF-25 showed excellent performance on both short runs and long runs, confirming that the latest aerodynamic updates — especially the newly introduced floor — are working as intended. The main storyline emerging from Friday’s session is the battle between Scuderia Ferrari and McLaren, as the two teams appear evenly matched ahead of Saturday’s qualifying session. While McLaren drivers Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri remain the theoretical favorites for the weekend, Ferrari has positioned itself as a serious contender.
From the very beginning of FP2, the Ferrari cars immediately made their presence felt. Within the first 20 minutes, both SF-25s were among the fastest on track. Lewis Hamilton, behind the wheel of car number 7, initially set a strong lap time of 1:27.280, followed by a quicker 1:26.902. However, Charles Leclerc responded with an even faster 1:26.887, momentarily putting the Monegasque driver ahead of the seven-time World Champion. Lewis Hamilton then regained the top spot with an excellent lap of 1:26.592. All these laps were completed on the Medium compound tyres (C3).
Oscar Piastri was the only driver able to stay close to the Ferraris, though he was still trailing by +0.320 seconds. Red Bull Racing struggled significantly throughout the session. Their RB21 appeared unstable and unpredictable in the high-speed direction changes typical of Silverstone’s layout. Max Verstappen, already at the center of intense media speculation regarding a possible future switch to Mercedes, repeatedly expressed frustration via radio communication with his race engineer. Meanwhile, young rookie Isack Hadjar delivered a notable performance, placing fourth with a gap of +0.470 on the yellow-walled Medium tyres.
Qualifying Simulation: Ferrari vs McLaren in the Spotlight
As teams switched to qualifying simulations on Soft tyres (C4), McLaren returned to the top of the leaderboard. Lando Norris, after making some setup changes on his MCL39, delivered the fastest lap of the session: 1:25.816. For Scuderia Ferrari, the focus was on gathering multiple short-run data points, though a few issues arose. Charles Leclerc reported issues with the front-left tyre but still managed to finish second, just +0.222 seconds behind Norris. Lewis Hamilton followed in third, clocking a time of +0.301 despite using a used set of Soft tyres.
The battle between Maranello and Woking seems set to define this weekend, while Mercedes and Red Bull Racing remain slightly off the pace. The Mercedes W16 appeared more drivable compared to previous sessions, but Max Verstappen once again overcame several difficulties to finish fifth, +0.498 off the pace.
Race Pace Still Unclear
The long-run performance offered more mixed results. The Ferrari SF-25 looked slightly less competitive than in the first free practice session (FP1). Lewis Hamilton complained of excessive graining on his Medium tyres, which negatively impacted his consistency. Charles Leclerc, meanwhile, maintained a steady pace comparable to Mercedes and Red Bull Racing, though still one or two tenths slower than the McLaren cars. The target times for the McLaren duo were around 1:32.2 to 1:32.3 on Medium tyres that were approximately 15 laps old.
In the final minutes of FP2, both Ferrari drivers — and Max Verstappen — improved their lap times during their race simulations. While McLaren’s MCL39 still appears to be the car to beat, the performance gap seems noticeably smaller than it was two weeks ago at the Austrian Grand Prix at Spielberg.
Ferrari’s encouraging signs in FP2, particularly with the newly developed floor on the SF-25, suggest that the team from Maranello could be a legitimate challenger for the win if progress continues into Saturday and Sunday.
Leave a Reply