British Grand Prix: Lewis Hamilton fastest in only Silverstone practice session

Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton led the way in practice at the British Grand Prix before sprint qualifying later on Friday.

The seven-time champion was 0.213 seconds quicker than championship leader Kimi Antonelli, with the second Ferrari of Charles Leclerc also heading the Italian’s Mercedes team-mate George Russell, winner in Austria last weekend.

McLaren’s Oscar Piastri was fifth fastest, but 0.887secs off the pace, despite a spin at Becketts midway through the session.

Red Bull’s Max Verstappen was sixth fastest, 0.980secs behind Hamilton and clearly struggling for grip, ahead of the second McLaren of Lando Norris and Red Bull’s Isack Hadjar.

Sauber’s Nico Hulkenberg and Racing Bulls’ Liam Lawson completed the top 10.

The session took place under big blue skies in temperatures of 23C at the start of a weekend in which 500,000 people – an all-time record – are expected to be at Silverstone.

Hamilton, the all-time record holder for wins at this track with nine victories, was a surprise pace-setter.

He had predicted on Thursday that Ferrari would lose perhaps twice as much time on the straights to Mercedes as they did in Austria last weekend, where the 41-year-old struggled to fifth place two weeks after his landmark maiden Ferrari victory in Barcelona.

Aside from Piastri’s spin, the session was relatively uneventful. Sprint qualifying starts at 16:30 BST.