F1 Today | Hamilton's home race party crashed by Norris and Leclerc, Horner drops MAJOR Verstappen exit bombshell

Lando Norris stormed to the top of the timing sheets in FP2 at Silverstone, setting a 1:25.816 to edge out Charles Leclerc by 0.222s and Lewis Hamilton by 0.301s. The McLaren driver found time when it mattered on the soft-tyre runs, breaking Ferrari’s earlier dominance and continuing McLaren’s strong momentum.

Lewis Hamilton led the early stages of the session after topping FP1, but his reign was short-lived as Leclerc and later Norris surged ahead. Carlos Sainz had a close call with Hamilton after a spin at Luffield, while Max Verstappen endured another frustrating session, finishing a muted P8 — over eight-tenths off Norris and still visibly struggling for balance and grip in his Red Bull.

Max Verstappen’s future may lie with Red Bull, but Christian Horner just added fuel to the uncertainty. While speaking to media including GPblog at Silverstone, Horner admitted that Verstappen’s contract contains performance-related exit clauses. And though the Red Bull boss tried to keep things vague, he ended up hinting at something quite specific: if the exit clauses in Verstappen's contract are triggered, the door to leave creaks open.

Despite Verstappen’s clear loyalty to Red Bull, Horner’s phrasing raised eyebrows. “If things stay as they are, 100% he will be with us next year,” he said, before dodging a direct answer on Verstappen’s 2025 seat by flipping the question back on George Russell’s future at Mercedes.