Lewis Hamilton posted the fastest time in FP1 for the 2025 British Grand Prix on his first Silverstone outing in Ferrari Red.
Hamilton bested the McLaren duo, Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, who were second and third fastest respectively in their chromed MCL39s.
Now we know the seven-time Formula 1 champion always finds something extra when racing in front of his home fans at Silverstone, but we have to wait and see whether Hamilton's pace was down to some glory running by Ferrari which the team usually does on special weekends.
Hamilton posted a 1:26.892, 0.023s clear of Norris and 0.150s clear of Piastri in third.
Hamilton's teammate, Charles Leclerc, was 0.203s off his pace in fourth and 0.068s clear of George Russell who was fifth in the Mercedes.
Isack Hadjar was sixth fastest for Racing Bulls, while Alex Albon was seventh the Williams driver doing his qualifying simulation much later in the session when the track was better which means he may a bit out of position.
Liam Lawson completed an encouraging session for Racing Bulls and was eighth fastest ahead of Kimi Antonelli in ninth while Max Verstappen completed the top ten.
Verstappen had a tough session, his RB21 understeering, oversteering throughout the 60 minutes as the Dutchman was vocal with his dismay over the team radio.
Worth noting the young driver who took part in FP1. Arvid Lindblad was in Yuki Tsunoda's pace and finished 14th while Paul Aron was driving for Sauber in place of Nico Hulkenberg and was 17th fastest in the end. Both delivered solid sessions.
Buildup towards FP1
We arrive at Silverstone on the back of a dramatic Austrian Grand Prix that saw Verstappen get eliminated on Lap 1 by Antonelli his title chances receiving a massive blow on a day when his closest rivals, Norris and Piastri, finished one and two respectively.
Norris had a great weekend at Spielberg and heads into the British GP, his home race, with momentum on his side not to mention the support of the British crowds. So which McLaren driver will prevail this weekend?
Hamilton, for the first time, will be driving in front of his home crowds in Red, and given the tough season he had endured so far, he will need evert ounce of support this weekend. Will Hamilton's special relationship with Silverstone take him to the podium and end his drought?
Mercedes had a bad weekend in Austria, and head into this weekend with chatter around Russell's future within the team in overdrive, will there be an announcement?
In terms of tyres, Pirelli has brought the: C2 (Hard), C3 (Medium), and C4 (Soft) Tyres this weekend.
As for the cars, McLaren and Racing Bulls have special liveries as Mercedes, the latter tweaking their livery to celebrate the 75th anniversary of F1.
As for updates, McLaren have a new floor body and revised rear brake duct inlets while Red Bull have a new floor body and new floor fences.
Aston Martin brought a big upgrade to their home race including a new floor body, floor fences, floor edges, as well as a new engine cover.
Haas also had a major upgrade with a new floor, new floor, fences, a new floor body and revised sidepod inlet.
Racing Bulls, aside from their special livery, have brought a new front wing to their car this weekend. Williams have new floor fences.
Sauber, on the back of their double points finish in Spielberg, have brought a new floor body and a new front wing.
Some driver changes as well. Lindblad replaced Yuki Tsunoda at Red Bull Racing for FP1, while Alpine reserve Aron took over Hulkenberg's car at Sauber following the recent deal between the two teams.
FP1 Session Highlights
The session started in partly clouded conditions, but with no threat of rain, as track temperatures were 38 degrees Celsius as air temperature was 22 degrees.
Norris and Hamilton were among the first drivers to head out on track as the green light at the end of the pitlane was illuminated.
All the driver were on Medium tyres as the start except for Albon and Sainz who opted for the Hards.
Lindblad reported having front locking in low speed corners but then Gasly had a huge moment, performing a 360 at Copse corner but was lucky to keep going, his car in one piece.
Then Lindblad and Sainz, at the same corner, ran wide and gave their respective cars a beating on the kerbs with sparks flying from the floors.
The Spaniard, soon after that radioed asking his team to change his headrest. He went back to the garage and the mechanics placed his car on the stands checking the damage on the floor.
At almost halftime, Verstappen was the first driver to bolt on the Soft tyres and went for a qualifying run. But he went third fastest only.
Verstappen was complaining that his car would not turn in low speed corners, while in high speed ones, it was either snaps or understeer.
Then, replay showed that Ferrari mechanics were working on the front nose of Leclerc's car.
Then Norris went for a Soft-tyre run, and went to the too of timing screens, but not by much. Alonso and Antonelli followed suit then Leclerc joined them as well as Piastri as qualifying runs were in full swing - 25 minutes from the end of the session.
By the way, Verstappen will have Gianpiero Lambiase at his corner this weekend.
Replay showed a few close moments out on track with traffic as some drivers were doing their flying laps. Luckily no contact in any of them.
The order after the Soft-tyre runs: Leclerc - Russell - Piastri - Norris - Lawson - Verstappen - Hadjar - Alonso - Antonelli - Colapinto.
Hamilton did not complete a full lap on the Softs at the time. He went for a couple of attempts, posting strong first sectors then aborted those laps.
That order however did not last for long as more Soft runs took place and soon Hamilton went to the top, 0.023s ahead of Norris in second and Piastri in third, with Leclerc fourth.
The Bortoleto brought out a brief Yellow flag after a 720 at Copse having gone a bit wide on the kerbs losing the rear of his Sauber.
Then Ocon reported that the brake pedal on his Haas cracked and dived into the pits for the team to have a look.
Leclerc, trying to find some more time, lost the rear of his Ferrari in the final corner (Turn 18) and ran a bit wide, but kept going.
After that, in the final ten minutes of the session, the teams switched back to the race simulations with high fuel loads.
Norris had a moment where he dipped his wheel into the gravel but kept going, while Russell was playing inspector giving feedback to Mercedes on the state of Hamilton's tyres after finding him out on track.
Verstappen also was out of shape in the first couple of corners ad radioed: "Unbelievable."
The session was concluded by practice starts.
British GP FP1 Classification
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