Home hero Hamilton tops FP1 at Silverstone

For the first time this season, Lewis Hamilton was the fastest man on track during Free Practice 1, giving his home crowd something to cheer for as he marginally tracked ahead of the McLaren duo on the early British Grand Prix timesheets.

Turning a new page for the next chapter of the 2025 Formula 1 season, the opening hour of practice at the British Grand Prix got underway as a calm haul of cars filtered out of the pitlane — two new rookie drivers included. 

Having struck a deal with Sauber, Alpine’s Reserve Driver Paul Aron jumped into the cockpit of Nico Hulkenberg’s car during FP1, while Arvid Lindblad had the exciting opportunity to partner with Max Verstappen in the RB21 for the hour.

Lindblad made his presence quickly known when he copped an early spray from Liam Lawson, with the Racing Bulls driver, who was one of the first cars on track when the light went green, reminding the F2 driver of the need to check his mirrors. 

Lawson started his FP1 campaign on the medium compound tyre, lapping within the top ten with an early fastest time of 1:29.251s.

Not settling for a mid-range lap, Lawson recorded an impressive fastest middle sector on his way to the very top of the timesheets when he crossed the line with a time of 1:27.676s.

He was then knocked down two notches by Charles Leclerc and his RB teammate, who replicated his P1 positioning, prompting a return to the pitlane for the #30.

When he returned to the historic circuit, Lawson was armed with the soft compound tyre.

Instantly putting the quicker compound to work, the Racing Bulls driver outpaced Max Verstappen’s attempt by just nine milliseconds before shaving a further tenth off his own lap on the next run. 

With less than ten minutes remaining in the hour, Lawson made the switch back to the medium compound tyre to round out his session with a stint of trace simulations, meaning his time of 1:27.351s was his fastest of the morning session, rewarding him with a P8 finish in FP1.

Oscar Piastri lit up the timesheets on his first flying tour of the iconic Silverstone Circuit, setting a purple middle sector on his way into the initial top three. 

Falling to P10, the Australian then worked to reinstate his McLaren among the fastest competitors, doing just that when he set a new benchmark time of 1:27.761s after 15 minutes of running. 

Finding himself in fifth when a lull fell over the circuit, Piastri rejoined the track action on the soft compound tyre, setting a fastest middle sector on his way to P1.

His C4 tyre time of 1:27.278s was soon beaten by Leclerc, with the Ferrari driver crossing the line almost two-tenths quicker than Piastri just moments later. 

As the soft tyre stint progressed, Piastri returned the favour by putting 0.053s between himself and the Monegasque driver to momentarily lead the session.

As the soft tyre runs continued to unfold, however, he couldn’t hold onto P1 as the British drivers gained speed from the home crowd’s cheers. 

Both Lewis Hamilton and Lando Norris beat Piastri’s fastest FP1 time of 1:27.042s, leaving him in third fastest as he switched to race simulations for the final ten minutes of the session.

Taking to the grid for his first practice start of the weekend, Piastri remained in third as the chequered flag brought an end to FP1.

With six British-born drivers taking part in the hour, it was no surprise to see a crowd favourite at the top of the order after the first round of flying laps. 

George Russell was the first driver to boost the Union Jack into P1, setting an early benchmark time of 1:28.570s before Lando Norris and Lewis Hamilton had their say.

It wasn’t all fun and games for everyone though, with Pierre Gasly having two separate moments into the first 15 minutes of the session — the first seeing him run wide at the final corner, and the second a nasty 360° spin out of Copse which Lance Stroll and Carlos Sainz both replicated due to strong winds. 

Taking a big hit on his way across the kerb, Sainz returned to the Williams garage for the team to check and solve any floor damage sustained in his incident, impacting the team’s sole focus on race simulation during FP1.

Running the hard compound tyre, Alex Albon and Sainz remained at the bottom of the order for the opening half of the session, with their fastest run sitting over 4.5 seconds behind the benchmark pace — a 1:27.502s lap set by Isack Hadjar as a lull fell over the circuit. 

At the halfway mark, Verstappen emerged from the pitlane as the first driver to sport the soft C4 compound, however, his first run only reaped P3.

Sitting a tenth behind Hadjar’s medium tyre benchmark, the Dutchman’s feedback to the Red Bull pit wall included complaints of his car not turning through the low-speed corners and snapping through the high-speed corners as he soon dropped down the list.

Ahead of him, it was a shootout between McLaren and Ferrari for the coveted top spot, with Hamilton coming out on top with a time of 1:26.892s — just 0.023s ahead of Norris — as the first stint on the soft tyre came to an end.

Not having the most comfortable time on his C4s was Gabriel Bortoleto, who, like Gasly, Stroll and Sainz, had a moment of his own on the exit of Copse which saw the Sauber driver completing a 720° spin, bringing out yellow flags as he crawled back to the pitlane.

His temporary rookie teammate also peaked the Sauber pit wall’s attention, with Aron getting caught up in traffic as he rounded Copse, disturbing Albon’s flying lap as he sat unaware of the Williams driver’s presence on the apex of the corner before having a front row seat to a similar moment between Hamilton and Lindblad.

Following another lull, the majority of drivers resumed the final 15 minutes of FP1 back on the medium compound, with race simulations ruling the remainder of the session.

Hamilton got a taste for overtaking when he passed Russell into Stowe corner — allowing the Mercedes driver to compare tyre wear between the two — before taking on the Alpine of Franco Colapinto on his last lap of the session.

Also having an eventful final run was Norris, who nearly lost his MCL39 in the gravel at the final corner as he tested the limits of his home circuit to round out FP1.

The seven-time world champion ended the morning session as the fastest driver — the first time he’s topped an hour of practice in 2025.

Norris and Piastri trailed the Ferrari driver to complete a top three separated by one and a half tenths as the field rounded out FP1 by completing their practice starts on the grid.

With many drivers dishing out orders, the second hour of practice will arrive all too soon for some teams with FP2 kicking off at 01:00 AEST.

Image: Formula 1

Free Practice 1 Results:

2025 British Grand Prix Schedule:

Friday, July 04:

FP1: 21:30 – 22:30

Saturday, July 05:

FP2: 01:00 – 02:00

FP3: 20:30 – 21:30

Sunday, July 06:

Qualifying: 00:00 – 01:00

Monday, July 07:

Race: 00:00

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