Hamilton holds off Antonelli in tight British GP practice

Hamilton set a 1m29.260s late in the session to move clear of Antonelli by 0.213s, denying the championship leader top spot after the Mercedes driver had briefly gone fastest in the closing stages.

Charles Leclerc ended the session third, 0.599s behind his teammate, while George Russell made sure Mercedes remained close to Ferrari by finishing fourth.

Oscar Piastri was fifth for McLaren, 0.887s off Hamilton, ahead of Max Verstappen and Lando Norris, while Isack Hadjar completed the top eight for Red Bull.

Nico Hulkenberg climbed to ninth late on for Audi, directly ahead of Liam Lawson, who rounded out the top 10.

The session was held in bright and dry conditions at Silverstone, with the air temperature at 21.6 degrees and the track sitting just under 40 degrees.

Hamilton led the field out when the green light came on, with 21 cars quickly heading onto the circuit while Verstappen remained the only driver to delay the start of his first run.

All drivers began on the hard tyre, with teams using the early phase of the session to gather data on the hardest compound in Pirelli’s range.

Antonelli set the early benchmark with a 1m32.579s once Verstappen joined the session, before Hamilton moved to the top with a 1m31.877s to draw a cheer from the home crowd.

Hadjar then joined the early fight near the top, trading times with Hamilton before the Ferrari driver improved again with a 1m31.434s.

The opening runs also produced several moments at Village, with a number of drivers running beyond the apex as the wind appeared to push cars wide through Turn 3.

Antonelli then underlined Mercedes’ early pace by moving to the top with a 1m30.777s, putting himself two tenths clear of Hadjar as most drivers completed their first runs.

Hamilton responded soon after with a 1m30.521s to reclaim the advantage, leaving Ferrari and Mercedes as the two teams to beat heading into the second half of the session.

Piastri provided the main incident of the hour when he spun between Becketts and Chapel after losing the rear of his McLaren.

The Australian slid backwards into the run-off area but avoided the barriers before recovering and slowly returning to the pits.

Piastri reported he was okay after the spin, but told his team the “tyres are dead.”

Replays showed he had taken too much kerb on entry before the rear of the McLaren stepped out, bringing out yellow flags in that part of the circuit.

Verstappen was noted for a potential yellow flag infringement after passing through the scene of Piastri’s spin, but the incident was reviewed and cleared with no further investigation.

The stewards were also called to look at a moment between Hulkenberg and Lawson at Village after the Audi driver exited the pits while Lawson was on a fast lap.

Lawson was forced to abandon his lap as the pair ran side-by-side through the opening sector, prompting an angry radio message from the Racing Bulls driver.

“What the fuck is that?” Lawson said.

That incident was also reviewed by the stewards, who decided no further investigation was required.

With 20 minutes remaining, several drivers switched to the soft tyre for their first qualifying-style runs, although the early improvements were limited as the leading times initially remained untouched.

That changed when Antonelli produced a 1m29.473s to jump to the top, going almost half a second faster than Russell and pushing Leclerc and Piastri further down the order.

Hamilton responded almost immediately, delivering a 1m29.260s to move two tenths clear of the Mercedes and restore Ferrari to the top of the times.

Franco Colapinto was 11th for Alpine, ahead of Gabriel Bortoleto and Arvid Lindblad, while Oliver Bearman jumped to 14th late in the hour for Haas.

Carlos Sainz and Esteban Ocon finished with identical 1m31.684s lap times in 15th and 16th, with Alex Albon just behind in 17th.

Valtteri Bottas was 18th for Cadillac, ahead of teammate Sergio Perez, while Fernando Alonso, Pierre Gasly and Lance Stroll completed the order after finishing more than three seconds off Hamilton’s benchmark.

Sprint qualifying at Silverstone gets underway at 4.30pm local time (1.30am AEST).

Results: Formula 1 British Grand Prix, Free Practice 1