Verstappen is still chasing the optimal balance of his RB20

Championship runaway leader Max Verstappen sounded a negative note after the opening day of the British Grand Prix, complaining about the balance of his car on the soft tyres.

Reigning champion Max Verstappen looked very competitive on Pirelli's medium tyres in the opening stages of the second practice session, but he completed a soft-tyre qualifying simulation that proved to be six tenths of a second slower than Lando Norris' benchmark time.

However, the Dutchman looked extremely competitive on the long runs which indicates that he only needs to fine-tune his RB20 for the qualifying session.

Speaking of his day, Verstappen noted: "A bit of work to do coming out of the first two practice sessions here in Silverstone. On the soft tyre it didn’t go so well in FP2 and the medium tyre looked better.

"We also had a little slide in FP2 heading into Chapel so I ended up aborting the lap there. We tried a few things on the car between FP1 and FP2, so we’ll have to analyse everything and what we can do better ahead of Qualifying.

"Naturally I think the weather will impact things tomorrow with some rain to be expected and the whole grid will have to take that in to account with strategy."

Following a run of low-key performances, it has emerged in recent days that Sergio Perez might lose his seat despite his freshly-signed two-year contract at Red Bull.

The Mexican looked competitive today, ending the day third quickest behind the McLaren duo despite sitting out the opening practice.

Expanding on his first day at Silverstone, Perez added: "It was a solid session, considering I wasn’t in the car this morning for FP1. The car is feeling good, but I think we need to find some balance, especially in the low and medium speed, the car feels really nice in the high speed.

"When you miss a session, it immediately feels like a busier afternoon, straight away you go into performance and high fuel and need to feed a lot back to engineering, but Isack had done a great job doing that for the Team this morning.

"I think the car has good potential for this weekend, the conditions are going to be varied and we are going to have to be on it with the decisions we make."

With teams obliged to run a young driver in practice at least twice a year, Perez handed over his car to F2 driver Isack Hadjar in the opening 60-minute session.

The Frenchman ended the session down in P19, but he was delighted to take part in an FP1 outing for the first time since last year's Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

"It was unbelievable to drive in FP1 today. It honestly felt like the first time in the car again and the braking and the high speed in the RB20 are just on another level.

"My last FP1 was in Abu Dhabi and it was quite limited mileage, so it was unbelievable to drive around this iconic and fast track here at Silverstone.

"The conditions were pretty good and fully dry, we expected some wet spots but the grip was actually very good which was surprising. It’s been a while since I’ve been in this car, but it is always great to be back with the Team and to know the procedures."