Lewis Hamilton gave the Silverstone audience exactly what they wanted by topping the opening practice session for the British Grand Prix with a best lap of 1:29.260 seconds, Yankee Scores reports.
Home supporters had an early reason to celebrate on a bright Friday afternoon as the Ferrari driver put in a time almost two-tenths clear of championship leader Kimi Antonelli
THE TOP THREE IN FP1 👀
1️⃣ Hamilton
2️⃣ Antonelli
3️⃣ Leclerc#F1 #BritishGP pic.twitter.com/ah3o1m3ucz— Formula 1 (@F1) July 3, 2026
Session Snapshot
Hamilton topped the charts ahead of Ferrari teammate Charles Leclerc and Antonelli.
Leclerc was half a second behind his teammate in third, with George Russell and Oscar Piastri completing the top five.
Max Verstappen was just outside the top five with Lando Norris and Isack Hadjar close behind.
Lewis and Lando 🤜🇬🇧🤛 British fans #F1 #BritishGP pic.twitter.com/R6SlI8CT2f
— Formula 1 (@F1) July 3, 2026
Drama and Setbacks
Piastri suffered a high-speed spin in the session but avoided the barrier and escaped with no major damage to his McLaren.
But Norris faced a difficult hour where a lap time was chalked off for exceeding track regulations, before an abortive follow-up attempt meant a trip back to the garage.
Bigger Picture
The Sprint format is in action this weekend, with teams just having one hour of practice before cars go into parc ferme conditions for Sprint Qualifying.
That tight schedule meant every lap counted as teams juggled performance runs, tyre tests and set-up changes under time constraint.
Ferrari’s performance has prompted some early doubts about Mercedes’ domination this season.
Mercedes had won seven of the first eight grands prix in 2026 but Hamilton’s session-topping effort showed the possibility that Ferrari may throw a spanner in the works ahead of Sprint Qualifying later on Friday.
Hamilton looked good from the opening, pursuing what would be a remarkable 10th career victory at Silverstone, per GPFans, establishing the pace before switching to soft tyres for his fastest run of the day.
Sprint Qualifying will follow later on Friday with the full British Grand Prix continuing through the weekend at Silverstone.
