
Hamilton top in first practice at Silverstone, Norris second
Hamilton, 40 and on a career low run of 13 races without a podium finish but a record nine-times home race winner, lapped a sunny Silverstone with a best effort of one minute 26.892 seconds on a bright but gusty afternoon.
It was the first time this season the seven-times world champion has led a practice session, although he was fastest in Chinese sprint qualifying.
McLaren's Lando Norris, favourite for his first home triumph on Sunday after winning in Austria last weekend, was 0.023 slower but ahead of championship-leading teammate Oscar Piastri in third and 0.150 off the pace.
Piastri leads Norris by 15 points after 11 of 24 races with Silverstone marking the season's midpoint. Champions McLaren have a dominant 207 points advantage over Ferrari in the constructors' standings.
Hamilton's teammate Charles Leclerc was fourth with Mercedes's George Russell fifth.
It was Hamilton's first time at a grand prix on home soil in Ferrari's red colours. The team have yet to win this season, the only top four outfit yet to do so.
Lindblad, replacing Yuki Tsunoda for the session only to satisfy young driver testing requirements, ended up 14th fastest with a time only half a second behind that of teammate and reigning champion Max Verstappen, who was 10th.
Red Bull had to seek special dispensation from the governing FIA for the Anglo-Swedish driver with Indian heritage to be allowed to drive while under the age limit of 18, and team boss Christian Horner was pleased with what he saw.
"I thought he acquitted himself very well, his feedback was clear and concise," he said of the Formula Two driver tipped for an eventual seat at Racing Bulls. "He's definitely a prospect for the future."
Only one other driver had debuted so young at a grand prix weekend and that was Verstappen in Japanese Grand Prix practice in 2014, three days after his 17th birthday.
Brazilian rookie Gabriel Bortoleto spun his Sauber full circle at speed but without mishap.
Estonian Paul Aron lapped for Sauber, replacing Nico Hulkenberg for the session, and was 17th.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles

Straits Times
8 hours ago
- Straits Times
England captain Williamson blames England's poor defending on emotions
ZURICH - England captain Leah Williamson blamed emotions for her team's uncharacteristic performance in their 2-1 loss to France in their opening game of Women's Euro 2025 on Saturday, saying they failed to leave them in the dressing room before kickoff. Marie-Antoinette Katoto and Sandy Baltimore struck in the first half for France to leave England's travelling fans in stunned silence and while Keira Walsh pulled one back in the 87th minute and the Lionesses had some near-misses towards the close, it was too little too late for the reigning champions. "I'm disappointed there was some cheap sort of emotional defending in the first half, when you take waves of attack like that you leave yourself open to those sorts of things," Williamson said of their poor one-on-one defending. "I'm just frustrated because I think the football that we played near the end, and the game plan, could've worked. We just didn't execute it exceptionally well. "We spoke (at halftime) as players, we take responsibility individually and as a team. We have a calm environment at the minute but there was an injection of get the emotion out, leave it in the changing room, and go out and just be pragmatic about it and try and insert a bit of 'umph' into the game." The loss was manager Sarina Wiegman's first in a European Championship after leading both the Netherlands (2017) and England (2022) to titles. "Of course we're frustrated, we had three very good weeks and we trained really well but that's never a guarantee that you'll win the game," Wiegman said. "And you also know that France is a proper team too, so you have to do things really well. We just didn't get it right at those moments." Top stories Swipe. Select. Stay informed. Singapore TTSH to demolish century-old pavilion wards, keeping one as heritage marker World Iran's Khamenei makes first public appearance since war with Israel World Elon Musk says he has created a new US political party Asia Poor sex education, policy gaps and stigma fuel HIV surge among young Filipinos Singapore Don't view your first property as a dream home, get a foothold in the market instead: PropNex's Ismail Gafoor Singapore How soya sauce could help treat cancer Tech Graduates are not screwed if they study engineering: James Dyson in response to Economist article Business When a foreign wife failed to turn up for a $10m divorce The first goal of the night almost went to England but Alessia Russo's strike was chalked off after VAR ruled that Beth Mead had been offside in the buildup. Wiegman also believed Russo was fouled on France's second goal but a VAR review said otherwise. "I'm not the referee but I'm upset," she said. England have been slow off the start in previous major tournaments, edging Austria 1-0 to kick off Euro 2022 and Haiti 1-0 at the 2023 World Cup en route to their first final appearance. "I can't really compare all the first games in tournaments," Wiegman said. "I think playing against France is just totally different than every other start of a tournament because I think they're a world-class team, and I think we're a very good team too." England now face a mammoth task on Wednesday against the Netherlands, 3-0 winners over Wales in Saturday's other Group D game. REUTERS


CNA
9 hours ago
- CNA
France coach says team can still improve after beating England
ZURICH :France can play even better despite putting on a strong performance to comfortably beat England 2-1 in their Women's Euros Group D opener on Saturday, Les Bleus manager Laurent Bonadei said. The victory in Zurich was the first time the reigning champions have lost the opening match in a title defence of the Women's Euros. "We can do better every time," Bonadei told reporters. "We have to improve in each department of the team, in defence, in midfield and offensively." The coach said France found the going tough at the start and end of the match when England were on top. But his team made the most of their chances, scoring twice during their dominant spell while England managed only a late consolation goal. "Each game is decided on the details and it's not easy to win this type of game," Bonadei said. "But I want to say that I am proud of my players, because they never give up in this game and keep control and keep calm in the difficult moments." The performance would give France confidence for the rest of the tournament, he said, adding: "We work at the training sessions every time to improve and to do better, and we want each game to make our fans proud."

Straits Times
9 hours ago
- Straits Times
France coach says team can still improve after beating England
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox ZURICH - France can play even better despite putting on a strong performance to comfortably beat England 2-1 in their Women's Euros Group D opener on Saturday, Les Bleus manager Laurent Bonadei said. The victory in Zurich was the first time the reigning champions have lost the opening match in a title defence of the Women's Euros. "We can do better every time," Bonadei told reporters. "We have to improve in each department of the team, in defence, in midfield and offensively." The coach said France found the going tough at the start and end of the match when England were on top. But his team made the most of their chances, scoring twice during their dominant spell while England managed only a late consolation goal. "Each game is decided on the details and it's not easy to win this type of game," Bonadei said. "But I want to say that I am proud of my players, because they never give up in this game and keep control and keep calm in the difficult moments." The performance would give France confidence for the rest of the tournament, he said, adding: "We work at the training sessions every time to improve and to do better, and we want each game to make our fans proud." REUTERS Top stories Swipe. Select. Stay informed. Singapore TTSH to demolish century-old pavilion wards, keeping one as heritage marker World Iran's Khamenei makes first public appearance since war with Israel World Elon Musk says he has created a new US political party Asia Poor sex education, policy gaps and stigma fuel HIV surge among young Filipinos Singapore Don't view your first property as a dream home, get a foothold in the market instead: PropNex's Ismail Gafoor Singapore How soya sauce could help treat cancer Business What does money mean to Crazy Rich Asians' Henry Golding? Business When a foreign wife failed to turn up for a $10m divorce