If Friday practice was anything to go by, Sunday's British Grand Prix could be one of the most widely competitive for some time.
Carlos Sainz clocked the fastest time in FP2, making the most of fresh tyres and a lighter fuel load to record 1:28:942, around 0.16 seconds quicker than home favourite Lewis Hamilton at Silverstone.
Lando Norris was third quickest ahead of championship leader Max Verstappen, with Charles Leclerc fifth fastest in the second Ferrari.
There were barely two tenths of a second splitting a top four that, excitingly, comprised four different teams. Behind them was Fernando Alonso, who performed so spectacularly during the wet qualifying session in Montreal and seemed at home in the changeable conditions of England's summer.
Introducing pedal cam 👣🎥#BritishGP @LandoNorris pic.twitter.com/yWkr8BUHuE
— Formula 1 (@F1) July 1, 2022
The Red Bull of Sergio Perez and Hamilton's Mercedes teammate George Russell were next, with Daniel Ricciardo's McLaren and Lance Stroll's Aston Martin rounding out the top 10. Exactly one second separated 10th from first.
Friday's two sessions mirrored qualifying at the Canadian Grand Prix two weeks ago, the heavy earlier rain giving way to increasing temperatures that made for a rapidly changing track surface.
Valtteri Bottas coped best with the weather in FP1, setting a fastest time of 1:42:249, more than half a second ahead of Hamilton and seven tenths faster than Sainz, before a Stroll spin brought the session to an early end.
Results from a rain-disrupted first practice session 👀#BritishGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/BM1Y8Nzwl5
— Formula 1 (@F1) July 1, 2022
The conditions offered an ideal test for Hamilton and Russell to put their improving Mercedes through their paces, and those performances in FP2 certainly suggested they can challenge Red Bull and Ferrari on home turf.
"It seems like we have taken a step forward because we are not normally near the top on a Friday," trackside engineering director Andrew Shovlin said via Sky Sports.
"There is certainly a lot to work on, there is some bouncing around and it is tricky in the high speed at the moment but hopefully the updates pushed us in the right direction."
British Grand Prix 2022: FP2 top 10
| Position | Driver | Car | Time |
| 1 | Carlos Sainz | Ferrari | 1:28:942 |
| 2 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | +0.163s |
| 3 | Lando Norris | McLaren | +0.176s |
| 4 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | +0.207s |
| 5 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | +0.462s |
| 6 | Fernando Alonso | Alpine | +0.753s |
| 7 | Sergio Perez | Red Bull | +0.811s |
| 8 | George Russell | Mercedes | +0.857s |
| 9 | Daniel Ricciardo | McLaren | +0.960s |
| 10 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin | +1.000s |
British Grand Prix 2022: Weekend schedule
Saturday, July 2
| Event | Start time (BST) | Start time (ET) |
| Third practice session | 12 p.m. | 7 a.m. |
| Qualifying session | 3 p.m. | 10 a.m. |
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Sunday, July 3
| Event | Start time (BST) | Start time (ET) |
| Grand Prix | 3 p.m. | 10 a.m. |
