Ticktum fastest in F2 practice as Pourchaire crashes

Photo: Formula Motorsport Limited

Carlin’s Dan Ticktum set the fastest lap in Formula 2 free practice at Silverstone.

The session had its fair share of action early on with the timesheets lighting up.

Christian Lungaard topping the times first, while ART Grand Prix team-mate Theo Pourchaire brought out the red flags by pinning and clattering with the barrier at turn seven. It was a rough start for the Frenchman who is recovering from an arm injury sustained in the previous round in Baku.

Once Pourchaire was safely recovered and back in the pits, the session resumed.

HWA Racelab’s Alessio Deledda and Jack Aitken had a glimpse in the top 10, sitting in eighth and fifth respectively at the sessions pause. But as more competitive times came in from elsewhere, they would drop down the field.

Towards the halfway point, the fight for the fastest lap picked up. Title contender Oscar Piastri moved to the top, but as more improvements arrived, so did the red flags. Deledda spun and stalled, temporally stopping the session.

It was only a few minutes before a restart, as drivers went out hoping to improve in the final stages of the session.

A new personal best from Virtuosi Racing’s championship leader Guanyu Zhou brought him up from 14th to sixth, and Hitech GP’s Liam Lawson moved up to ninth place.

However, It wasn’t until the session entered the final minutes the order started dramatically changing. Williams junior Ticktum, who had been sat in second behind Piastri, went fastest with a stellar lap, closely followed by Piastri after he responded to being bumped down to second place.

Hitech’s Juri Vips was third after two improvements, and the top five was completed by MP Motorsport’s rookie Richard Verschoor and Carlin’s Jehan Daruvala.

Further efforts from Zhou lifted him higher to sixth, just 0.004 seconds faster than fellow Alpine junior Lundgaard.

MP’s Lirim Zendeli, Lawson and Prema’s Robert Shwartzman completed the top 10.

Free practice results