Lewis Hamilton fastest in FP1 for British Grand Prix
Lewis Hamilton put in a strong showing in first practice for the British Grand Prix as he finished fastest for Ferrari.
Aside from the Chinese Grand Prix sprint, which he won, there has been little cheer for Hamilton in his first season at Maranello. However, Silverstone is a track he has always gone well at and the early signs appear to be promising. That is not to say that there should be any expectation that he will be in contention for victory, given how fast McLaren were in Austria last weekend.
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Hamilton, who won this race last year for Mercedes, was 0.023sec faster than the fastest McLaren of Lando Norris with the other McLaren in third and just over a tenth behind. Hamilton's Ferrari team-mate Charles Leclerc was fourth, two-tenths off the ultimate pace.
Elsewhere, George Russell was fifth, Alexander Albon seventh and Oliver Bearman 18th. Max Verstappen was only 10th, behind both Racing Bulls car.
Arvid Lindblad, the British 17-year-old Formula Two driver, had his first outing in an F1 session for Red Bull. He finished 14th, about half a second slower than Verstappen.
01:50 PM BST
FP2 starts at 4pm
We will be back about half an hour before that and will then take you through that second hour of practice.
01:34 PM BST
FP1 - ⏱️ Classification
HAM 1:26.892
NOR +0.023
PIA +0.150
LEC +0.203
RUS +0.271
HAD +0.325
ALB +0.412
LAW +0.459
ANT +0.475
VER +0.540
ALO +0.786
STR +0.952
SAI +1.017
LIN +1.066
OCO +1.165
COL +1.194
ARO +1.250
BEA +1.255
GAS +1.440
BOR +1.505
01:31 PM BST
🏁FP1 ends - Hamilton fastest
A good showing from Ferrari.
Lewis Hamilton of Great Britain driving the (44) Scuderia Ferrari SF-25 on track during practice ahead of the F1 Grand Prix of Great Britain at Silverstone Circuit on July 04, 2025 in Northampton, England.
Verstappen not happy at all with his car. 'Unbelievable,' he says on the radio. He finishes 10th. Full classification coming up.
01:30 PM BST
FP1 - Norris runs wide at Luffield
On the exit and not too much, but it won't have helped his lap time. Sainz improves his lap time a little, but moves up only one place to 13th.
01:22 PM BST
FP1 - Lindblad moves up the order
The young Briton is now in 13th for Red Bull, around one second off Hamilton and around half a second off his team-mate Max Verstappen. Carlos Sainz, meanwhile, moves up to 14th on his first soft tyre run but is more than half a second off his team-mate's pace.
01:18 PM BST
FP1 - James Vowles on Albon's latest lap
'Not a bad place to be... he lost it a little towards the end of the lap,' he says. 'Through turn one we're pretty quick.'
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12 minutes remain.
01:16 PM BST
FP1 - Albon moves seventh
Just over four tenths off the ultimate pace of Lewis Hamilton. Let's see what Carlos Sainz can do.
01:15 PM BST
FP1 - Red/Racing Bull/Bulls update
The two fastest cars in the Red Bull stable are the Racing Bulls of Hadjar and Lawson in sixth and seventh... Max Verstappen is ninth and Arvid Lindblad is 18th.
Albon becomes the first Williams to leave the garage on something other than hard tyres. He is out on the softs and goes fastest of anyone in sector one...
01:13 PM BST
FP1 - Hamilton hooks up a lap
And it's good enough to put him fastest of all! Not by a great deal, just 0.023sec, but he leads the two McLarens and then his team-mate. Tidy stuff. The Ferrari was improved in Austria (but still miles behind McLaren).
Ferrari's British driver Lewis Hamilton takes part in the first practice session ahead of the Formula One British Grand Prix at the Silverstone motor racing circuit in Silverstone, central England, on July 4, 2025.
01:09 PM BST
FP1 - 🟨 Yellow flags🟨
Bortoleto spins at Copse! He goes round... and round again... and round again, but stays just on the track and avoids the barriers. That will be a relief. He lost the rear end as he went over the exit kerb.
01:07 PM BST
FP1 - Hamilton appears to abandon his lap
He had done the fastest first sector but then aborted the lap in the middle sector for some reason. We have yet to see what that is. Russell has popped up into second, within a tenth of Leclerc.
01:06 PM BST
FP1 - Leclerc moves fastest
He has to negotiate some traffic towards the end of the lap but still finishes 0.183sec faster than Piastri (below), who had marginally improved on Norris's previous best time.
Oscar Piastri of Australia driving the (81) McLaren MCL39 Mercedes on track during practice ahead of the F1 Grand Prix of Great Britain at Silverstone Circuit on July 04, 2025 in Northampton, England
01:03 PM BST
FP1 - Not a tremendous improvement from Norris on the softs
He goes fastest but only by 0.148sec over Hadjar's previous best. A few other soft runners not exactly setting the world alight but let's see what the Ferraris and Piastri can do. Looks promising so far.
01:02 PM BST
FP1 - There is another junior driver in this session
Nico Hulkenberg has given up his Sauber to Estonian Paul Aron who is in fact an Alpine junior driver. Make of that what you will. He is currently 15th, 1.334sec off the pace. Soft tyre runs have now begun, so times should improve.
12:59 PM BST
FP1 - Williams propping up the order
Their times are not really comparable to the rest of the field, though. They have only run the hard tyres so far. They are, however, 4.5sec and 4.8sec off the pace.
Carlos Sainz of Spain driving the (55) Williams FW47 Mercedes on track during practice ahead of the F1 Grand Prix of Great Britain at Silverstone Circuit on July 04, 2025 in Northampton, England
12:56 PM BST
FP1 - Most cars in the garages now
So here is how it stands:
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HAD 1:27.502
LEC +0.063
LAW +0.174
PIA +0.176
RUS +0.200
NOR +0.489
HAM +0.617
ANT +0.663
VER +0.666
BOR +0.895
Will there come a time when the Racing Bulls overtake Red Bull and then Verstappen is moved to the junior team to get a better car?
12:52 PM BST
FP1 - 38 mins remaining
Hadjar and Lawson put themselves into the upper reaches of the order, Lawson going fastest first before being dislodged by Leclerc in the Ferrari and then his French team-mate. All within a couple of tenths of each other.
12:48 PM BST
FIA candidate announces challenge to Ben Sulayem's presidency
Early press conference this morning at Whittlebury Hall – a stone's throw from Silverstone – listening to Tim Mayer put forward his credentials as FIA president.
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You may remember that the American, who is the son of former McLaren team principal Teddy Mayer, was unceremoniously sacked from his role as an FIA steward by current president Mohammed ben Sulayem last autumn.
Mayer, who has the support of UK Motorsport and its chief David Richards, denied that his decision to stand in this December's election was motivated by a desire for revenge, choosing instead to focus on the need for change after the chaos of Ben Salayem's premiership.
'We're calling our campaign 'FIA Forward' – because it's time for professionalism, growth and service,' said the 59-year-old.
Mayer added that he did not want to 'get in the gutter' with Ben Sulayem, but he did call out the Emirati for failing to deliver on his campaign promises. According to Mayer, the FIA has instead been left with the 'illusion of inclusion', especially women and people from diverse backgrounds who were 'pushed out when they spoke the truth', the 'illusion of transparency and engagement', and the 'illusion of integrity… with wave after wave of statute amendments, touted as progress, but basically a land grab.
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'World councils have been gagged and senate members pushed out for exercising their rights,' he said.
I personally thought Mayer spoke well. His background as an independently-wealthy businessman (the role of FIA president is unpaid) and long-time steward, who knows the industry inside-out, is very credible. But it remains to be seen whether he can make a dent on Ben Sulayem who has had four years to get his ducks in a row.
'Certainly the deck is stacked in favour of the incumbent,' Mayer conceded. 'Changes have deliberately been made to centralise power. Statutes have been changed. But we still have five months. We need to go out and explain to 245 clubs why they should vote for change. I'm starting this with the intention of winning.'
12:45 PM BST
FP1 - Lindblad watch
The British teenager is currently 17th with seven laps on the board. Pierre Gasly has a huge spin at high-speed but manages to keep it out of the barriers and returns to the pits.
12:44 PM BST
FP1 - ⏱️ Order update
RUS 1:27.971
NOR +0.020
ANT +0.372
HAM +0.409
PIA +0.448
VER +0.526
HAD +0.675
ALO +0.840
STR +0.892
GAS +1.116
12:40 PM BST
FP1 - Verstappen beginning a hot lap
A good first sector, the fastest of anyone. It's now three British drivers in the top four, Piastri the only non-Briton in there in second. Hamilton leads him, then Russell and Norris.
12:36 PM BST
FP1 - It's now a British 1-2 at the top
Russell leads Norris by 0.075sec. Arvid Lindblad is currently in 11th after a couple of timed laps, 2.143sec off Russell's ultimate pace.
12:35 PM BST
FP1 - Gasly leads the way
Very early days yet but it's Gasly leading Lawson, Colapinto and Bearman so far. Hamilton and Alonso, two of the bigger guns, are out on track.
12:33 PM BST
🟩 GREEN LIGHT - FP1 is under way 🟩
First practice has begun at Silverstone.
12:28 PM BST
Arvid Lindblad makes FP1 debut
British Red Bull junior driver Arvid Lindblad is making his F1 session debut in a few moments' time. He is taking Yuki Tsunoda's place for FP1.
Arvid Lindblad of Great Britain and Oracle Red Bull Racing looks on during previews ahead of the F1 Grand Prix of Great Britain at Silverstone Circuit on July 03, 2025 in Northampton, England
12:17 PM BST
Grand Prix winners this year so far
12:14 PM BST
James Vowles interview: I have no idea why Christian Horner calls me 'The Reverend'
James Vowles can still remember the first time he went to Silverstone as if it was yesterday. He and his friend Luciano, with whom he grew up in Geneva, went on what he calls 'something of a pilgrimage' to the Northamptonshire circuit. By chance Williams were testing that day.
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'I remember it perfectly,' Vowles says. 'I remember the sound, I remember the feeling, I remember the vibrations in my chest. We stood there for half an hour, on the fence, just in awe. This would have been 1996 or 1997, when I was 17 or 18. It was basically that famous Rothmans Williams car. That's what we were looking at and it was fantastic. I've still got the photos somewhere.'
Read the full interview here.
12:07 PM BST
Your circuit for this weekend
For my money, it is the best on the current calendar.
11:44 AM BST
Current constructor standings
When do McLaren wrap this up? Obviously it is harder than the drivers' championship to do that early because of the number of points on offer each weekend. Still... I doubt we will get very close to the end of the season at this rate.
11:42 AM BST
Current driver standings
11:36 AM BST
Session times for this weekend
Friday July 4
FP1 – 12.30pm BST
FP2 – 4pm
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Saturday July 5
FP3 – 11.30am
Qualifying – 3pm
Sunday July 6
Race – 3pm
11:28 AM BST
Good morning
Welcome to our live coverage of Friday practice for the 2025 British Grand Prix. As always (well, apart from the six sprint weekends) it's two hour-long practice sessions today. Practice is always important in F1 but on a track like this where commitment is how you extract a lot of lap time, then it is even more crucial for the 20 drivers taking part. Or rather, there are more than that, with some junior drivers taking part in FP1.
The British Grand Prix has traditionally been a place where British drivers have done well. Some of this is just a numbers game: there have been many fine Britons in F1 and many of them have driven in quick F1 cars. Lewis Hamilton has won at Silverstone many, many times of course, including last year. He will not be the most-favoured British driver for the win this weekend, though. That will be Lando Norris of McLaren.
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Norris's championship has been a rather bumpy one. Started fairly well but a lot of minor mistakes (mostly in qualifying) have cost him points, as well as the rather large mistake of crashing into his team-mate in Canada. He got the job done in Austria last weekend to take his third victory of the season and close the gap on team-mate and championship leader Oscar Piastri to just 15 points. As we reach the half-way point of the season, that is almost nothing.
Norris could probably have won here last year were it not for a bungled strategy, among other things. Unlike Piastri, Norris has yet to win consecutive races in 2025. This weekend should provide him with plenty of motivation to change that.
FP1 begins at 12.30pm BST and we will be here for all of the live updates from that as well as FP2 later on today.
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