Lewis Hamilton tops first British Grand Prix practice, George Russell fourth

Lewis Hamilton tops first British Grand Prix practice, George Russell fourth Last updated 03 July 2026 1:44pm BST Save Share article Log in or Subscribe Copy link X Icon twitter Facebook Icon facebook WhatsApp Icon whatsapp email Add us as preferred source Add us as preferred source Copy link X Icon twitter Facebook Icon facebook WhatsApp Icon whatsapp email Key moments Preview Moan, moan, moan... Expand all Lewis Hamilton put in a strong showing in first practice for the British Grand Prix Credit: David Davies/PA Luke Slater live updates, at Silverstone Last updated 03 July 2026 1:44pm BST Save Share article Log in or Subscribe Copy link X Icon twitter Facebook Icon facebook WhatsApp Icon whatsapp email Add us as preferred source Add us as preferred source Copy link X Icon twitter Facebook Icon facebook WhatsApp Icon whatsapp email Key moments Preview Moan, moan, moan... Expand all Lewis Hamilton put in a strong showing in first practice for this weekend’s British Grand Prix. In the only practice session on a sprint weekend, the Ferrari driver was 0.213sec faster than championship leader Kimi Antonelli in the Mercedes.  Antonelli’s team-mate, George Russell, who won last week in Austria, was nearly 0.7sec off Hamilton’s pace in fourth, just behind the other Ferrari of Charles Leclerc.  Lando Norris, the defending champion and last year’s winner at Silverstone, was seventh, more than a second off the pace.  Qualifying for Saturday’s sprint race takes places later on Friday, with qualifying for Sunday’s grand prix on Saturday afternoon.  Latest updates Luke Slater live updates, at Silverstone 1:44PM A bit of a strange session? Link copied to clipboard I would be surprised if sprint qualifying finished quite so stretched and in similar order, but it is good to see Ferrari competitive. Or at least appear competitive. Most of the other front-runners have work to do.  Sprint qualifying begins at 4.30pm BST and we will return for that a little after 3.30pm.  1:33PM ⏱️FP1 - Classification Link copied to clipboard HAM 1:29.260ANT +0.213LEC +0.599 RUS +0.678PIA +0.887VER +0.980NOR +1.028HAD +1.078HUL +1.483LAW +1.590COL +1.706BOR +1.775LIN +2.079BEA +2.113SAI +2.424OCO +2.424ALB +2.437BOT +2.890PER +2.981ALO +3.697GAS +3.759STR +3.870 1:31PM 🏁FP1 ends - Hamilton fastest Link copied to clipboard Verstappen has another lap but does not improve his lap time.  1:30PM FP1 - No further investigation on the Lawson/Hulkenberg incident Link copied to clipboard Fair enough, annoying but not really worth a penalty for either driver from what I saw.  1:28PM FP1 - Into the final few minutes Link copied to clipboard Aston Martin very much back to the bottom, both cars around 3.6-3.8sec off the pace, though with Gasly between them.  1:27PM FP1 - A long way off from Verstappen Link copied to clipboard Nearly a second, in fact. In fairness, the times are slightly stretched... HAM 1:29.260ANT +0.213LEC +0.599RUS +0.678PIA +0.887VER +0.980 NOR +1.028HAD +1.078HUL +1.503LAW +1.590 1:24PM FP1 - Hamilton back to the top Link copied to clipboard Encouraging from Hamilton after two sectors. Within a tenth of Antonelli. How is his final sector? Very good! Fastest of anyone, and it puts him fastest, 0.213sec ahead of Antonelli. A blisteringly quick final sector sends Lewis Hamilton to the top of the timesheets 🤩#F1 #BritishGP pic.twitter.com/ZNWDN0Fo9Y — Formula 1 (@F1) July 3, 2026 Verstappen begins his fast lap on the softs. 1:21PM FP1 - Mercedes show good pace on the softs Link copied to clipboard Russell goes fastest momentarily before being beaten by almost half a second by team-mate Antonelli... Credit: Andrew Boyers/Reuters Defending world champion Norris, meanwhile, can only manage fifth, 0.865sec off Antonelli’s fastest time. Time to see what the Ferraris have got on these red-marked tyres.  1:20PM FP1 - Here come some drivers on soft tyres Link copied to clipboard Piastri looking to move well up the order here. Verstappen escapes any investigation for the potential yellow-flag infringement.  Piastri moves fastest. How close to first position can he stay in the final 10 minutes? 1:18PM FP1 - Incident between Hulkenberg and Lawson noted Link copied to clipboard Unclear whether it will be investigated by the stewards. Another incident that has been noted is a yellow-flag infringement by Max Verstappen.  1:16PM FP1 - Into the final 15 minutes Link copied to clipboard We could do with a few more drivers setting lap times on soft tyres, or at least not hard tyres. Hamilton still leads the way from Antonelli, Lawson (mediums), Hadjar, Russell, Leclerc, Verstappen and Piastri.  1:14PM FP1 - Nice action on the track Link copied to clipboard Hulkenberg and Lawson do a little dance around the corners at the start of the track. Lawson not happy about being overtaken around the outside heading onto the Wellington straight.  “What the f--- is that? That’s crazy,” he says. Hulkenberg had just come out of the pits and got right in his way. He didn’t really try to get out of the way.  1:07PM FP1 - Yellow flags... Link copied to clipboard Why? Piastri spins after losing the rear end in the Maggots/Becketts complex. He keeps it out of the barriers, crucually. He then gets back to the pit lane. Currently seventh and nearly 0.8sec off Hamilton’s fastest time. Says the tyres are gone. If they weren’t before, they are now. Oscar Piastri has a huge moment at Becketts 😮 The Aussie has to use all of the run-off area before returning to the pits #F1 #BritishGP pic.twitter.com/Et0bsTQ9OS — Formula 1 (@F1) July 3, 2026 At the bottom end of the table Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll are no longer propping up the table, but they have just done their best laps on soft tyres. So that explains that. 1:05PM FP1 - Hamilton moves top Link copied to clipboard Roughly a quarter of a second faster than Antonelli. All the laps so far done on the hard tyres, will be interesting to see what happens when they bolt on another compound.  Here is the top 10 as it stands:  HAM 1:30.521ANT +0.256HAD +0.448RUS +0.465LEC +0.480VER +0.756PIA +0.793NOR +1.054BOR +1.292LAW +1.293 1:01PM FP1 - Norris not really hooking it up so far today Link copied to clipboard His fastest time is nearly 0.8sec off Antonelli’s ultimate pace. He is in eighth place. McLaren, in general around the third fastest team at most weekends. Miami was promising but they have since been overhauled by Ferrari. Leclerc, who is having a bit of a tough season, doesn’t look likely to improve his time on his latest lap, though he strings together a final sector that is good enough to put him fourth, around 0.2sec off Antonelli’s pace and ahead of Hamilton. Credit: Andy Hone/LAT Images 12:57PM FP1 - Brit watch Link copied to clipboard Russell in third, Hamilton in fourth, Norris in eighth, Lindblad in 12th, Bearman in 13th and Albon (if you count him), in 17th.  12:56PM FP1 - 35 mins remain Link copied to clipboard Aston Martin and Cadillac are adrift at the bottom of the timesheets. Far more excusable for the Americans than the British brand. Stroll 4.3sec slower than Antonelli’s fastest time, however, he has just done his fastest first sector... perhaps let’s not get too excited about that.  12:54PM FP1 - Can Hamilton improve? Link copied to clipboard Looks like a tidy finish the the lap, but he moves up from seventh to fourth, 0.424sec off the pace. Lost a bit more time in the final sector. Ferrari are not too optimistic about their hopes this weekend, but you never know.  12:51PM FP1 - Plenty of lap times being deleted Link copied to clipboard Perez, Antonelli, Leclerc the latest. None of them, though, were push laps.  Anyway, Hadjar leads Antonelli but is improving on his next flying lap. Second, can he improve? Yes. Now nearly two tenths faster than Hadjar.  12:49PM What do we think of McLaren’s special livery? Link copied to clipboard Credit: Steven Tee/LAT Images Not sure. Looks a little like a Caterham.  12:47PM FP1 - Hadjar back at the top Link copied to clipboard Here is the top 10: HAD 1:30.969ANT +0.007VER +0.308PIA +0.345LEC +0.358HAM +0.465NOR +0.626LAW +0.845RUS +0.853BOR +1.047 12:44PM FP1 - Verstappen now leads the way Link copied to clipboard It’s a 1:31.277, currently 0.037sec faster than Piastri. Most, if not all, of the runs have been on the hard tyres. Norris had briefly moved up to fifth but has had that time deleted now for track limits at turn nine.  Credit: Steven Tee/LAT Images 12:41PM FP1 - Hadjar leads the way Link copied to clipboard His time of 1:31.697 is 0.109sec faster than Antonelli with Piastri, Hamilton and Norris next up.  12:38PM FP1 - Norris is currently bottom Link copied to clipboard Not a representative time yet, though. Fifty-eight seconds off the pace.  Lando Norris on track sporting McLaren's special livery 👀#F1 #BritishGP pic.twitter.com/7csHgvqwRF — Formula 1 (@F1) July 3, 2026 12:36PM FP1 - Antonelli moves ahead of the pack Link copied to clipboard 0.294sec faster than Piastri as it stands, then Hadjar, Norris, Lawson and Leclerc.  12:34PM FP1 - Hamilton out on track Link copied to clipboard He will be one of the first drivers to set a lap time. What will it be? A 1:34.696 which is slower than Nico Hulkenberg’s Audi at the moment.  12:29PM FP1 is go! Link copied to clipboard We are under way at Silverstone.  12:15PM A nice moment for Arvid Lindblad Link copied to clipboard Dream. Big. ❤️ #F1 #BritishGP pic.twitter.com/c2GLNZH6aW — Formula 1 (@F1) July 3, 2026 He is having an impressive debut season, closely matching Lawson in the season so far and scoring a handful of points already. 12:08PM A big old festival feel to this weekend at Silverstone Link copied to clipboard Not only is it a sprint weekend, which makes Friday more interesting, the organisers expect a weekend crowd in excess of 550,000. Even yesterday the site was pretty busy, with various things going on.  Credit: David Davies/PA Silverstone has been turned into the Glastonbury of motorsport, writes Tom Cary, looking at the transformation of this race over the past couple of decades.  12:03PM Constructor standings Link copied to clipboard It is nice that Mercedes are no longer the only team to win a grand prix this year, but hard to see them being overhauled on current form.  11:52AM Conditions at the track Link copied to clipboard It is likely to be a decent and dry weekend at Silverstone as it stands. A little under 40 minutes until FP1 gets going and the air temperature is around 20.2C and the track 35.2C. A light breeze but nothing like yesterday. Nothing to concern anyone, in short.  Remember it is only one practice session before we get into the competitive action, so it is crucial than the drivers and teams learn about how these new-regulation cars perform on this circuit.  11:46AM Driver standings Link copied to clipboard This is after eight of 22 rounds or, in 40.9 per cent of the season... A long way to go yet, but Russell could do with another win to eat into team-mate Antonelli’s lead a little more.  11:39AM Session times for the weekend Link copied to clipboard Friday, July 3 FP1 – 12.30pm BST Sprint qualifying – 4.30pm Saturday, July 4 Sprint race – Noon Qualifying – 4pm Sunday, July 5 Race – 3pm 11:35AM Good morning Link copied to clipboard Welcome to our live coverage for the Friday of the 2026 British Grand Prix. For the first time in a while (well, the first time since 2021, in fact), Silverstone hosts a sprint weekend.  What does that mean? Well, today we have first (and only) practice, followed by sprint qualifying later this afternoon. Then comes the sprint race tomorrow morning, followed by main qualifying and then, as usual, the British Grand Prix on Sunday.  This is normally a race of much excitement and anticipation, but before this race there has been an awful lot of complaining that borders on whinging. My colleague Thom Gibbs pondered in his SportsDay e-mail newsletter on this issue this morning.  “It is rare for a race weekend to pass without Max Verstappen threatening to flounce out and start a new life in the Flemish countryside because there is too much electricity and not enough petrol in his engine, or something,” Thom writes. “Yesterday, we had Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso claiming that the sport’s new rules could ruin Silverstone.” Credit: Clive Mason/Getty Images “Alonso predicted the weekend could be ‘quite sad’ and Hamilton, bottom lip surely trembling, said, ‘it’s not going to feel the same’ and that he is still angry that he didn’t get enough sweeties. Hamilton is also embroiled in an objectively hilarious row about his participation in a Lego race this weekend in which cars made of 28,000 Lego bricks each drive around the circuit. Very, very slowly.” It is a little bit poor, I have to say. Yes, there is an ever-increasing amount of commitments they have to undertake. But, come on guys, they are just trying to make the painfully dull drivers’ parade a little bit more interesting than drivers being driven around on branded flat-bed trucks and asked the usual questions they are asked before every single race of their lives.  I have more sympathy for the argument about the new regulations neutering the challenge of Silverstone, but I guess a more sympathetic way to look at it would be describing it as challenging in another way. It is not ideal but it is what we are stuck with, so they will all just have to get on with it.