Hadjar Leads British GP Practice at Silverstone
Get the Sports newsletter
Daily sports — scores, transfers, the storylines from the leagues you actually follow. Free.
- Isack Hadjar topped the only one-hour practice session of the Sprint weekend with the first sub-1:31 lap, three tenths clear of Max Verstappen in the sister Red Bull RB22.
- Kimi Antonelli, the championship leader, slotted between the two Red Bulls in P2, just 0.007s behind Hadjar's benchmark.
- Lewis Hamilton finished third on the timesheet, but Sky Sports' Jenson Button noted Hamilton was "four tenths quicker than anyone" in the final sector — which Button described as "not a long sector."
- Oscar Piastri briefly held top spot with a 1:31.819 before being displaced, and teammate Lando Norris ran wide through the Turn 3 escape road in the opening minutes.
- Ferrari and Red Bull both brought rear-corner updates to Silverstone: Ferrari enlarged its cooling inlet and outlet sections, while Red Bull added a winglet to the rear wheel bodywork.
- Mercedes arrive at Silverstone holding a 98-point lead over Ferrari in the Constructors' Championship, with George Russell having claimed four pole positions so far this season.
- Red Bull came into the weekend off improved form after Verstappen finished second at the previous round in Austria.
Why it matters: Friday's hour of running is the only practice window before Sprint Qualifying at 4:30pm, making every setup lap consequential — and with Mercedes holding a 98-point Constructors' lead over Ferrari, Hamilton's four-tenths final-sector advantage on home soil carries direct title implications for the Scuderia's hopes of chipping into that gap.
