Lando Norris topped the first practice session for the 2024 British Grand Prix, with Lance Stroll second and Oscar Piastri third, as other teams hold back on pace.
Reigning Formula 1 Champion Max Verstappen was fourth fastest in the Red Bull, but he set his best time on the Medium tyre, as Norris ran the Softs to set the pace.
McLaren were the only top team to run the Soft tyre, as Red Bull, Mercedes and Ferrari ran Hards and Mediums only, setting their best times on the Yellow banded tyres, except for Carlos Sainz who stuck the hardest compound.
That means there is not much to say about the pace, but Verstappen seemed once again would be fighting with Norris as three tenths separated the pair, not much given the tyre offset.
Mercedes seemed in good form once again, while Ferrari continued to trail the eight-time F1 Constructors' Championship.
Buildup towards FP1
Less than a week since the headline-grabbing incident between Lando Norris and Max Verstappen, F1 racing resumed at Silverstone for the 2024 British GP.
After all the commotion and controversy, both drivers seemed to have cooled down and now delivering positive soundbites complementing each other as they both gear up for the second round of their intense fight this season.
So will it be blue and carbon fiber flying all over Silverstone and will the friendship between Verstappen and Norris endure?
What of Mercedes' form? Can they maintain the momentum? And what about Ferrari, their revised SF-24 a disappointment so far?
Plenty of young drivers in FP1, Oliver Bearman who was recently signed by Haas will replace Kevin Magnussen, while Sergio Perez makes way for Isack Hadjar in the Red Bull.
Franco Colapinto will drive instead of Logan Sargeant at Williams while Pierre Gasly will watch his car being driven by Jack Doohan in FP1.
On the tyre front, Pirelli have brought their hardest range: C1 (Hard), C2 (Medium) and C3 (Soft).
In terms of upgrades, quite a number of them for various teams, starting with Red Bull Racing, who have a revised floor body and floor edge.
Mercedes have more upgrades, revised front and rear wings, smaller front brake duct inlets and exits and an adjusted upper lip on the rear corners.
McLaren have a new rear wing and three beam wings to test (High, medium and low downforce) and as additional cooling exit in their engine cover.
Aston Martin have a revised front wing and a revised lip on the rear corners, with VCARB having a revised Halo as Sauber have new floor fences.
Haas have the most comprehensive upgrade with new: Floor body, floor fences, floor edge, sidepod inlet, Coke/Engine cover, mirror stay, and rear quadruplane.
FP1 session highlights
Conditions were dry but cloudy at the start of FP1, but chances of rain at 60% with grip conditions not ideal, McLaren warning Norris to be careful.
"This could be winter Barcelona 10am levels of grip," Norris' engineer said as drivers were on a mix of Hard and Medium compounds.
Three minutes into the session, Stroll reported a "very long" brake pedal and returned to the pits suffering from what is a brake-by-wire problem.
The drivers, especially the youngsters soon made their way to the track, but nine minutes into the session, Yuki Tsunoda ruined their party as he spun and got beached a Turn 7 coming out of Brooklands, bringing out the first Red Flag of the weekend.
The session was restarted with less than 45 minutes remaining on the clock. A pity for Tsunoda who was setting some fast times before binning it.
With 40 minutes remaining, the lack of grip caught out Norris who was on a slow lap, and almost lost his car at Turn 5 going momentarily wide off track.
Zhou Guanyu, 36 minutes into the session reported that his car was jumping in Turns 1 and 9 while Bearman seemed to be enjoying his outing with his future team.
Halfway into the session only Bearman and Valtteri Bottas were the drivers to used the Soft tyres, while it seems the top teams were sticking to the Hard and the Medium.
Since the session was restarted, several drivers took turns at the top spot: Verstappen, George Russell, Lewis Hamilton, and the latest was Sainz who shot up to the top halfway into the session. Norris was 11th at that moment.
Soon Nico Hulkenberg and Esteban Ocon switch to the Softs as the top teams start their runs on the Mediums, Verstappen topping timing screens with Russell and Charles Leclerc close behind in second and third.
Piastri soon goes fastest, on the Soft tyre, almost a tenth faster than Verstappen on Mediums, while replay showed Hadjar in Perez's Red Bull going briefly wide and putting a wheel in the gravel.
The Red Bull young driver seemed to be on data collection duty for Red Bull.
Norris soon gets on the Softs as well, but went fourth fastest, over two tenths slower than his teammate. More and more drivers switch to the Soft tyres, 15 minutes from the end of the session.
Norris soon goes fastest on the Soft tyres, with Stroll in second, as Red Bull, Mercedes, and Ferrari were yet to run the red-walled tyres - less than ten minutes from the end.
With seven minutes remaining, Piastri reported a hydraulic issue with his MCL38 and limped back to the McLaren pits.
He couldn't reach his box and stops in the pitlane entry as the stewards immediately announce it closed for drivers who now have to stay out on track until the stricken McLaren is cleared.
Replay soon shows Leclerc having a close moment with Stroll out on track, the Monegasque earlier impeded by the other Aston Martin of Fernando Alonso.
But back to Piastri, the marshals pushed him to his McLaren garage and the pitlane entry was soon re-opened.
Towards the end, Norris had a moment with Hadjar who was in the way, and apologized from the the Briton, as the session was concluded with practice starts.
How they finished
Norris' best time was a 1:27.420, 0.134s faster than Stroll in second and 0.211s faster than Piastri in third, all three of them using the Soft tyre for their best times.
Verstappen on the Mediums was fourth fastest, over three tenths off the pace and 0.009s ahead of Russell in fifth and on the same tyre compound.
Alonso was sixth fastest in the other Aston Martin, on Softs, and was 0.374s off the best time of the session and ahead of Hamilton by 0.064s, the seven-time F1 Champion seventh and setting his time on Mediums.
Leclerc on Mediums was eighth in the Ferrari, 0.483s off the pace and 0.022s ahead of Sainz in ninth, the Spaniard setting his time on the Hard tyres and ahead of Ocon, who was tenth in the Alpine.
As for the young drivers, Bearman was the best in the upgraded Haas, the Briton14th fastest, with Doohan in 17th and Colapinto 18th in the Williams, Hadjar was 19th in the Red Bull.
British GP FP1 Classification
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