Hamilton delights home crowd by dealing first blow to rivals at Silverstone

Kimi Antonelli, in second place, finished around two tenths behind the Ferrari driver. Charles Leclerc completed the top three, finishing ahead of George Russell.

Oscar Piastri was the leading McLaren driver, finishing fifth. Max Verstappen set only the sixth-fastest time, but his lap was far from ideal. The Dutchman finished a second behind his former title rival.

Drivers wasted no time getting out on track during the only free practice session of the weekend, as Sprint Qualifying will follow later this afternoon at Silverstone. Home favourites Hamilton and Lando Norris were among the first to head out on track.

All 22 drivers began setting laps on the hard tyres today. After the first 15 minutes, Isack Hadjar set the pace with a 1:30.9, ahead of Antonelli and his teammate Verstappen. The Italian then improved further on the hard compound to take the lead with a 1:30.7. With 26 minutes to go, Hamilton was the next driver to set the fastest lap, posting a 1:30.5, still on the hard tyres. Meanwhile, Oscar Piastri lost control of his McLaren through the Maggots-Becketts section and spun, but the Australian managed to keep the car out of the wall.

Entering the final 15 minutes, drivers began switching to the medium and soft tyres, which they will need to use later during Sprint Qualifying. After the first laps on those compounds, Antonelli was quickest ahead of Russell and Leclerc, but with six minutes to go, Hamilton reclaimed the lead with a 1:29.2 on the soft tyres. Verstappen's lap was far from perfect, and he only improved to sixth place.