Practice report

F1 British GP: Home hero Lewis Hamilton tops first practice at Silverstone

Lewis Hamilton finished FP1 ahead of the McLaren duo of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri

It may have only been the first practice session, but Lewis Hamilton proved his Silverstone superiority lives on at Ferrari as the nine-time British Grand Prix winner set the fastest lap.

Hamilton won here last year for Mercedes but has been struggling for form since making the switch to the Scuderia, bar winning the Shanghai sprint race earlier this season.

The seven-time world champion sent the adoring home fans into raptures as his effort of 1m26892s was enough to keep compatriot and title challenger Lando Norris at bay.

Norris pipped McLaren team-mate Oscar Piastri to second as Charles Leclerc put the sister Ferrari fourth to continue something of an upturn in performance for the team in red.

George Russell had displaced Hamilton from the top of the timing sheets earlier in FP1 but had to settle for fifth, with the Haas of Oliver Bearman – the fourth full-time home driver in the field – down in 18th.

George Russell, Mercedes

Photo by: Glenn Dunbar / LAT Images via Getty Images

Reigning world champion Max Verstappen was down in 10th, with Arvin Lindblad – who was on his first F1 outing following the special dispensation given to the 17-year-old – not far adrift in the second Red Bull, a little over .500s away from the Dutchman’s best effort.

With the weather in Northamptonshire seemingly set fair for the day, there was plenty of running up and down the field, and even a couple of hairy moments into Copse.

Firstly, Pierre Gasly spun his Alpine a full 360 degrees and was lucky to keep going without any damage, before Gabriel Bortoleto – fresh from scoring his first F1 points in Austria last weekend – followed suit as he lost it on the curb and took a trip over the grass before continuing on.

With Bortoleto and Nico Hulkenberg, Sauber enjoyed a double points finish at the Red Bull Ring last time out, but the latter sat out FP1 at Silverstone and was replaced by Alpine loanee Paul Aron, who was 17th following his temporary switch.

F1 British GP results - FP1

1 - 2
Cla	Driver	#	Chassis	Engine	Laps	Time	Interval	Tyres	km/h
1	L. Hamilton Ferrari	44	Ferrari	Ferrari	26	1'26.892		S	244.068
2	L. Norris McLaren	4	McLaren	Mercedes	26	+0.023 1'26.915	0.023	S	244.003
3	O. Piastri McLaren	81	McLaren	Mercedes	28	+0.150 1'27.042	0.127	S	243.647
4	C. Leclerc Ferrari	16	Ferrari	Ferrari	26	+0.203 1'27.095	0.053	S	243.499
5	G. Russell Mercedes	63	Mercedes	Mercedes	25	+0.271 1'27.163	0.068	S	243.309
6	I. Hadjar Racing Bulls	6	RB	Honda	28	+0.325 1'27.217	0.054	S	243.159
7	A. Albon Williams	23	Williams	Mercedes	30	+0.412 1'27.304	0.087	S	242.916
8	L. Lawson Racing Bulls	30	RB	Honda	27	+0.459 1'27.351	0.047	S	242.786
9	A. Antonelli Mercedes	12	Mercedes	Mercedes	25	+0.475 1'27.367	0.016	S	242.741
10	M. Verstappen Red Bull Racing	1	Red Bull	Red Bull	26	+0.540 1'27.432	0.065	S	242.561
11	F. Alonso Aston Martin Racing	14	Aston Martin	Mercedes	24	+0.786 1'27.678	0.246	S	241.880
12	L. Stroll Aston Martin Racing	18	Aston Martin	Mercedes	22	+0.952 1'27.844	0.166	S	241.423
13	C. Sainz Williams	55	Williams	Mercedes	26	+1.017 1'27.909	0.065	S	241.244
14	A. Lindblad Red Bull Racing	36	Red Bull	Red Bull	22	+1.066 1'27.958	0.049	S	241.110
15	E. Ocon Haas F1 Team	31	Haas	Ferrari	23	+1.165 1'28.057	0.099	S	240.839
16	F. Colapinto Alpine	43	Alpine	Renault	27	+1.194 1'28.086	0.029	S	240.760
17	P. Aron Sauber	97	Sauber	Ferrari	25	+1.250 1'28.142	0.056	S	240.607
18	O. Bearman Haas F1 Team	87	Haas	Ferrari	24	+1.255 1'28.147	0.005	S	240.593
19	P. Gasly Alpine	10	Alpine	Renault	23	+1.440 1'28.332	0.185	S	240.089
20	G. Bortoleto Sauber	5	Sauber	Ferrari	23	+1.505 1'28.397	0.065	M	239.913
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