Lando Norris has topped the first practice session of the British Grand Prix in a session that saw multiple academy drivers take part – Isack Hadjar for Red Bull, Franco Colapinto for Williams, Oliver Bearman for Haas (who’ll become a full-time driver for the team next year), and Jack Doohan for Alpine.
The session was red-flagged just 10 minutes in, as RB F1’s Yuki Tsunoda spun at sector 2 and was stuck in the gravel, unable to re-join the track.
Green flag running resumed with 44 minutes to the checkered flag.
The first half of practice was topped by Mercedes drivers Lewis Hamilton (1:28.043s) and George Russell just 0.003s behind. However, things began to change past the 30-minute mark, with Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz stealing the first spot in the timing charts as he went 0.118s faster than the 7-time World Champion.
Rain started threatening the session toward the end, as Oscar Piastri experienced technical issues and slowly made his way to the McLaren box, while his teammate Lando Norris topped the charts, ahead of Lance Stroll (+0.134s).
Of the rookies, Hadjar had the hardest adaptation through the session as he finished last by over 2.4 seconds to the lead. However, it was still a great running for him. Argentine Colapinto followed in P18 with his Williams, just behind Alpine’s rising star Jack Doohan.
The highlight of the young stars was Bearman, who finished the session in P14 behind RB F1’s Daniel Ricciardo. The 2025 full-time Haas driver had a great running, as most expected following his earlier performance with Ferrari at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.