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Hamilton surprises with fastest time in Silverstone practice
Lewis Hamilton set the pace during the sole practice session for the British Grand Prix, leaving the competition, including championship leader Antonelli, behind.
By Michael de Vries - 2026-07-03T12:44:33.000Z - 2 min read
The British Grand Prix weekend got off to an excellent start for Lewis Hamilton. The seven-time world champion, driving for Ferrari, clocked the fastest lap in the weekend's only practice session. Setting a 1m29.260s on the soft tyre, he was more than two-tenths faster than Mercedes driver Kimi Antonelli, the current championship leader.
Hamilton's strong performance came as a surprise, especially given his own statements earlier this week. He feared Ferrari would lose twice as much time on the straights at Silverstone compared to Mercedes, similar to the situation in Austria where he finished fifth. This weekend comes two weeks after his historic first victory for Ferrari in Barcelona.
Behind Antonelli, Charles Leclerc also showed that the Ferrari was on fine form by outpacing George Russell. Russell, Antonelli's teammate and winner of the previous race in Austria, had to yield to Leclerc. McLaren's Oscar Piastri set the fifth-fastest time but struggled to match the pace and spun halfway through the session at Becketts.
Practice proved a greater challenge for Max Verstappen. The Red Bull driver finished sixth, nearly a second behind Hamilton, clearly struggling for grip. His teammate Isack Hadjar followed in P8, sandwiched between the McLarens of Piastri and Lando Norris.
Nico Hülkenberg (Audi) and Liam Lawson (Racing Bulls) completed the top ten in the weekend's single practice session. The session took place under bright blue skies in pleasant temperatures of 23 degrees Celsius. The only notable incident was Piastri's spin, while organisers expect a record crowd of half a million spectators at Silverstone this weekend.