Friday saw the first two hours of Free Practice for the 2024 British Grand Prix, with the teams preparing for what will be another close weekend up and down the paddock.
McLaren F1 Team’s Lando Norris topped both sessions, beginning his home Grand Prix in good form. It was a mixed day for the other Briton’s in the paddock, George Russell was fifth in Free Practice One, but could only manage tenth in the second session, while Lewis Hamilton was outside the top five in both sessions.
It was an encouraging day for McLaren, as they seem quicker than Oracle Red Bull Racing, although Max Verstappen didn’t make the most of his qualifying simulation during Free Practice Two and ended up behind Sergio Pérez.
Free Practice One – Norris tops, bad start for Tsunoda
Norris set the fastest lap in Free Practice One for his home Grand Prix, with Lance Stroll and teammate Oscar Piastri following closely behind.
Russell was the first car on the track, fresh off the back of his 2024 Austrian Grand Prix victory that will certainly inject some confidence into both Russell and Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team for this weekend’s race. All eyes were on the rookies selected for Free Practice One, with four teams choosing to put them into their cars. Ollie Bearman took part in his first Free Practice session since it was revealed he would be on the Formula 1 grid in 2025, while Red Bull ran Isack Hadjar in place of Pérez, Franco Colapinto replaced Logan Sargeant for Williams Racing and Jack Doohan stood in for Pierre Gasly, who will be starting from the back of the grid on race day due to engine penalties, for BWT Alpine F1 Team.
Just ten minutes into the session, Yuki Tsunoda spun and got stuck in the gravel at Luffield, bringing out the red flags so that the Marshalls could recover his VCARB 01. With 44 minutes left, the green flag waved and the drivers wasted no time, getting back on track to make up for lost time with another tightly contested weekend anticipated.
Photo: McLaren Media Centre
Light ran began to fall in the closing stages of the hour, but for Piastri, the British weather conditions weren’t the concern. The Australian driver reported a possible hydraulic issue and nursed his McLaren back to the pits at a slow pace. Meanwhile, things were looking up for his teammate Norris. The British driver put in an excellent lap of 1:27.420 on the soft tyres, grabbing top spot. This placed him a comfortable 0.134 seconds ahead of Stroll for Aston Martin Armaco F1 Team. Despite his troubles, Piastri managed to hold onto third place.
Red Bull’s Verstappen finished fourth, while the Mercedes duo of Russell and Hamilton claimed fifth and seventh respectively. Fernando Alonso slotted into sixth for Aston Martin. Scuderia Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz Jr. followed in eighth and ninth, with Alpine’s Esteban Ocon rounding out the top 10.
MoneyGram Haas F1 Team’s Nico Hülkenberg took eleventh, ahead of Valtteri Bottas for Stake F1 Team Kick Sauber. Daniel Ricciardo, Bearman, and Zhou Guanyu filled out the next positions followed in twelfth, thirteenth, fourteenth and fifteenth respectively.
Williams’ Alex Albon came in sixteenth, with Doohan in seventeenth after facing technical issues. Colapinto took eighteenth, just ahead of Hadjar who had a near miss with Norris. Tsunoda remained in last after his earlier excursion in the gravel.
| POS | NO | DRIVER | CAR | TIME | GAP | LAPS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | Lando Norris | MCLAREN MERCEDES | 1:27.420 | 26 | |
| 2 | 18 | Lance Stroll | ASTON MARTIN ARAMCO MERCEDES | 1:27.554 | +0.134s | 22 |
| 3 | 81 | Oscar Piastri | MCLAREN MERCEDES | 1:27.631 | +0.211s | 18 |
| 4 | 1 | Max Verstappen | RED BULL RACING HONDA RBPT | 1:27.729 | +0.309s | 25 |
| 5 | 63 | George Russell | MERCEDES | 1:27.738 | +0.318s | 26 |
| 6 | 14 | Fernando Alonso | ASTON MARTIN ARAMCO MERCEDES | 1:27.794 | +0.374s | 27 |
| 7 | 44 | Lewis Hamilton | MERCEDES | 1:27.858 | +0.438s | 26 |
| 8 | 16 | Charles Leclerc | FERRARI | 1:27.903 | +0.483s | 26 |
| 9 | 55 | Carlos Sainz | FERRARI | 1:27.925 | +0.505s | 27 |
| 10 | 31 | Esteban Ocon | ALPINE RENAULT | 1:27.974 | +0.554s | 24 |
| 11 | 27 | Nico Hulkenberg | HAAS FERRARI | 1:28.082 | +0.662s | 22 |
| 12 | 77 | Valtteri Bottas | KICK SAUBER FERRARI | 1:28.254 | +0.834s | 26 |
| 13 | 3 | Daniel Ricciardo | RB HONDA RBPT | 1:28.477 | +1.057s | 24 |
| 14 | 50 | Oliver Bearman* | HAAS FERRARI | 1:28.536 | +1.116s | 25 |
| 15 | 24 | Zhou Guanyu | KICK SAUBER FERRARI | 1:28.590 | +1.170s | 24 |
| 16 | 23 | Alexander Albon | WILLIAMS MERCEDES | 1:28.649 | +1.229s | 25 |
| 17 | 61 | Jack Doohan* | ALPINE RENAULT | 1:28.735 | +1.315s | 22 |
| 18 | 45 | Franco Colapinto* | WILLIAMS MERCEDES | 1:29.078 | +1.658s | 24 |
| 19 | 37 | Isack Hadjar* | RED BULL RACING HONDA RBPT | 1:29.270 | +1.850s | 15 |
| 20 | 22 | Yuki Tsunoda | RB HONDA RBPT | 1:29.864 | +2.444s | 5 |
Free Practice Two – Norris continues to dominate, mixed conditions at Silverstone
After topping the first session of the weekend, Norris continued to set the pace at his home Grand Prix, as he searches for his second race win in Formula 1.
Following a number of race simulations for each team, focus switched to soft compound qualifying runs. Visa Cash App RB’s Ricciardo received a heads-up from his race engineer about incoming rain, as did many drivers. Despite the looming wet weather, many drivers, including Norris and Piastri, continued hammering out their qualifying simulations as planned.
The rain did indeed materialize in the closing minutes, but not enough to disrupt Norris’ dominance at Silverstone so far. He held onto his first place position as the chequered flag waved, leading the pack by a comfortable margin of 0.331 seconds over his teammate Piastri.
Red Bull showcased some strong potential with Perez taking the third-fastest lap, followed closely by Haas’ Hulkenberg in an impressive fourth-place showing. The American team are closing in on RB for sixth in the Constructors Championship. Leclerc and Hamilton locked down fifth and sixth positions for Ferrari and Mercedes, respectively.
Photo: Getty Images/Red Bull Content Pool
Verstappen secured seventh, while Sainz followed in eighth and Lance Stroll claimed ninth, a rather disappointing showing after finishing second in Free Practice One. Rounding out the top 10 was Russell in the Mercedes. Alonso narrowly missed out on a top-10 finish in eleventh, as did Bottas in the Sauber who came in twelfth after all the running was done. Despite missing out on the top-10, it was much better showing for Bottas and Sauber as they still look to get off the mark in the Championship.
Williams’ Albon sported a special Union Jack livery for the home race and secured a respectable thirteenth. Behind him, the Alpine duo of Gasly and Ocon took fourteenth and fifteenth respectively.
Having recovered from his earlier gravel incident in Free Practice One, Tsunoda managed to get some crucial running in for RB and secured sixteenth. The rest of the field saw Logan Sargeant, Zhou Guanyu, Ricciardo back in the other RB, and Kevin Magnussen rounding out the timesheets in the Haas.
| POS | NO | DRIVER | CAR | TIME | GAP | LAPS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | Lando Norris | MCLAREN MERCEDES | 1:26.549 | 26 | |
| 2 | 81 | Oscar Piastri | MCLAREN MERCEDES | 1:26.880 | +0.331s | 24 |
| 3 | 11 | Sergio Perez | RED BULL RACING HONDA RBPT | 1:26.983 | +0.434s | 25 |
| 4 | 27 | Nico Hulkenberg | HAAS FERRARI | 1:26.990 | +0.441s | 26 |
| 5 | 16 | Charles Leclerc | FERRARI | 1:27.150 | +0.601s | 27 |
| 6 | 44 | Lewis Hamilton | MERCEDES | 1:27.202 | +0.653s | 26 |
| 7 | 1 | Max Verstappen | RED BULL RACING HONDA RBPT | 1:27.233 | +0.684s | 21 |
| 8 | 55 | Carlos Sainz | FERRARI | 1:27.249 | +0.700s | 31 |
| 9 | 18 | Lance Stroll | ASTON MARTIN ARAMCO MERCEDES | 1:27.274 | +0.725s | 21 |
| 10 | 63 | George Russell | MERCEDES | 1:27.294 | +0.745s | 26 |
| 11 | 14 | Fernando Alonso | ASTON MARTIN ARAMCO MERCEDES | 1:27.372 | +0.823s | 25 |
| 12 | 77 | Valtteri Bottas | KICK SAUBER FERRARI | 1:27.381 | +0.832s | 16 |
| 13 | 23 | Alexander Albon | WILLIAMS MERCEDES | 1:27.645 | +1.096s | 26 |
| 14 | 10 | Pierre Gasly* | ALPINE RENAULT | 1:27.732 | +1.183s | 24 |
| 15 | 31 | Esteban Ocon | ALPINE RENAULT | 1:27.743 | +1.194s | 19 |
| 16 | 22 | Yuki Tsunoda | RB HONDA RBPT | 1:27.745 | +1.196s | 26 |
| 17 | 2 | Logan Sargeant | WILLIAMS MERCEDES | 1:27.809 | +1.260s | 24 |
| 18 | 24 | Zhou Guanyu | KICK SAUBER FERRARI | 1:27.813 | +1.264s | 19 |
| 19 | 3 | Daniel Ricciardo | RB HONDA RBPT | 1:27.916 | +1.367s | 25 |
| 20 | 20 | Kevin Magnussen | HAAS FERRARI | 1:28.122 | +1.573s | 20 |