Lewis Hamilton topped the timesheet in the opening practice session for this weekend’s 2025 FIA Formula 1 British Grand Prix, beating fellow Briton Lando Norris by two hundredths of a second, while F1 Drivers’ Championship leader Oscar Piastri finished third. 

Home hero and nine-time Silverstone winner Hamilton hovered close to the top of the order from the early stages of the session, posting an admittedly conservative time of 1:29.161 to take top spot. 

He was quickly usurped by Norris and then by a third local hero, George Russell, who took his Medium-shod Mercedes to 1:28.570. Hamilton then moved back to the top with a time of 1:28.380s, before Russell reclaimed P1 on 1:29.971. 

Pierre Gasly then had a nervous moment. The Frenchman spun his Alpine A535 through 360 degrees at the high-speed Copse corner, but he was able to stay on track and continue on severely flat-spotted tyres. 

As the session moved toward the halfway point, Racing Bulls driver Isack Hadjar took over at the top of the order. The Frenchman posted a time of 1m27.502 to take P1 ahead of Ferrari's Charles Leclerc and RB team-mate Liam Lawson.

The field then began to switch to Soft compound tyres and with the C4 Pirellis on board Piastri took top spot before Leclerc went quicker with a time of 1:27.095s. 

Piastri then improved but Norris had the measure of both, and he took P1 with a time of 1:26.915. Hamilton was finding more time o​n the red-banded​ tyre, however, and the Ferrari driver stole back P1 with a lap of 1m 26.892s.

Behind Hamilton, Norris and Piastri,  Leclerc held on to fourth place. Russell followed in fifth ahead of Hadjar, Williams’ Alex Albon, Lawson and the other Silver Arrows car of Kimi Antonelli.

After a low-key session, Red Bull’s Max Verstappen rounded out the top 10 ahead of Aston Martin pair Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll. 

Driving Yuki Tsunoda’s Red Bull Racing RB21, FIA Formula 2 regular and Red Bull junior Arvid Lindblad took 13th place in his first FP1 outing ahead of Williams’ Carlos Sainz and Haas’ Esteban Ocon and Alpine’s Franco Colapinto. 

Behind the Argentinian the session’s other rookie Paul Aron took P17 for Kick Sauber ahead of Haas’ Ollie Bearman, Gasly and the second Sauber of Gabriel Bortoleto. 

2025 FIA Formula 1 British Grand Prix – Free Practice 1 
1 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari 1:26.892 26 244.068
2 Lando Norris McLaren/Mercedes 1:26.915 0.023 26 244.003
3 Oscar Piastri McLaren/Mercedes 1:27.042 0.150 28 243.647
4 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:27.095 0.203 26 243.499
5 George Russell Mercedes 1:27.163 0.271 25 243.309
6 Isack Hadjar Racing Bulls/Honda RBPT 1:27.217 0.325 28 243.159
7 Alexander Albon Williams/Mercedes 1:27.304 0.412 30 242.916
8 Liam Lawson Racing Bulls/Honda RBPT 1:27.351 0.459 27 242.786
9 Kimi Antonelli Mercedes 1:27.367 0.475 25 242.741
10 Max Verstappen Red Bull/Honda RBPT 1:27.432 0.540 26 242.561
11 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin/Mercedes 1:27.678 0.786 24 241.880
12 Lance Stroll Aston Martin/Mercedes 1:27.844 0.952 22 241.423
13 Carlos Sainz Williams/Mercedes 1:27.909 1.017 26 241.244
14 Arvid Lindblad Red Bull/Honda RBPT 1:27.958 1.066 22 241.110
15 Esteban Ocon Haas/Ferrari 1:28.057 1.165 23 240.839
16 Franco Colapinto Alpine/Renault 1:28.086 1.194 27 240.760
17 Paul Aron Sauber/Ferrari 1:28.142 1.250 25 240.607
18 Oliver Bearman Haas/Ferrari 1:28.147 1.255 24 240.593
19 Gasly Alpine/Renault 1:28.332 1.440 23 240.089
20 Gabriel Bortoleto Sauber/Ferrari 1:28.397 1.505 23 239.913