Norris Tops 2025 British GP Practice

McLaren’s Lando Norris finished fastest in Friday Practice for 2025 British Grand Prix at Silverstone. 

Norris finished 0.023 seconds shy of Lewis Hamilton in FP1 but emerged quickest in FP2 from Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and Hamilton on a busy day of action.

Arvid Lindblad and Paul Aron meanwhile made their FP1 debuts for Red Bull and Sauber respectively, with Lindblad in particular debuting in F1 machinery on home soil.

 

FP1

As America marks Independence Day, it was fitting that Haas were first to hit the track with Esteban Ocon ahead of Williams’ Carlos Sainz and Alex Albon on hard tyres.

Hamilton however was the first driver to truly set the pace with 1m 29.161 on medium tyres in the opening five minutes but Norris displaced him with 1m 28.645 to head Piastri by 0.054s, before George Russell went quickest with 1m 28.570 on medium tyres.

Hamilton, Norris and Russell soon traded fastest laps before Oscar Piastri briefly displaced Russell in the 16th minute, although there was a surprise leader at the halfway mark as Racing Bulls’ Isack Hadjar headed Leclerc by 0.063 seconds.

Attention switched to the soft-tyre qualifying simulations just past the half-hour mark as Norris posted 1m 27.354 to go fastest, but Piastri soon traded fastest laps with Leclerc before Norris displaced the pair with 1m 26.915.

Hamilton however snatched the fastest time of the session with 18 minutes left as he posted 1m 26.892 to head Norris by 0.023s.

Lindblad and Aron stood in for Yuki Tsunoda and Nico Hulkenberg at Red Bull and Sauber respectively for this session, with the Brit classified 13th in his first F1 FP1 session at his home event whilst Aron finished 17th-quickest.

Position	Driver	Team	Time
1	Lewis Hamilton	Ferrari	1m 26.892
2	Lando Norris	McLaren	+ 0.023
3	Oscar Piastri	McLaren	+ 0.150
4	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	+ 0.203
5	George Russell	Mercedes	+ 0.271
6	Isack Hadjar	Racing Bulls	+ 0.325
7	Alex Albon	Williams	+ 0.412
8	Liam Lawson	Racing Bulls	+ 0.459
9	Andrea Kimi Antonelli	Mercedes	+ 0.475
10	Max Verstappen	Red Bull	+ 0.540
11	Fernando Alonso	Aston Martin	+ 0.786
12	Lance Stroll	Aston Martin	+ 0.952
13	Carlos Sainz	Williams	+ 1.017
14	Arvid Lindblad	Red Bull	+ 1.066
15	Esteban Ocon	Haas	+ 1.165
16	Franco Colapinto	Alpine	+ 1.194
17	Paul Aron	Sauber	+ 1.250
18	Oliver Bearman	Haas	+ 1.255
19	Pierre Gasly	Alpine	+ 1.440
20	Gabriel Bortoleto	Sauber	+ 1.505

 

FP2

Having sat out FP1, Hulkenberg was straight out on track and set 1m 30.011 as the initial benchmark on medium tyres but Hamilton soon set the pace with 1m 27.280, only to briefly trade fastest laps with Piastri then Leclerc in the opening 21 minutes.

The nine-time winner around Silverstone eventually set 1m 26.592 as the fastest medium-tyre time ahead of Leclerc and Piastri.

Mercedes were the first team to switch to soft-tyre qualifying simulations in the 26th minute as Russell set 1m 26.523 to go fastest, only for Antonelli to go 0.140s faster moments later.

Leclerc lowered the benchmark to 1m 26.202 on the half-hour mark but two minutes later, Norris set a session-topping 1m 25.816 to finish 0.222s clear of the Monegasque who improved on his second flier, as Hamilton rounded out the top three ahead of Piastri and Verstappen.

Position	Driver	Team	Time
1	Lando Norris	McLaren	1m 25.816
2	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	+ 0.222
3	Lewis Hamilton	Ferrari	+ 0.301
4	Oscar Piastri	McLaren	+ 0.470
5	Max Verstappen	Red Bull	+ 0.498
6	Andrea Kimi Antonelli	Mercedes	+ 0.567
7	Lance Stroll	Aston Martin	+ 0.614
8	George Russell	Mercedes	+ 0.707
9	Isack Hadjar	Racing Bulls	+ 0.708
10	Liam Lawson	Racing Bulls	+ 0.808
11	Alex Albon	Williams	+ 1.024
12	Fernando Alonso	Aston Martin	+ 1.060
13	Gabriel Bortoleto	Sauber	+ 1.088
14	Esteban Ocon	Haas	+ 1.125
15	Yuki Tsunoda	Red Bull	+ 1.164
16	Carlos Sainz	Williams	+ 1.343
17	Nico Hulkenberg	Sauber	+ 1.349
18	Pierre Gasly	Alpine	+ 1.358
19	Oliver Bearman	Haas	+ 1.410
20	Franco Colapinto	Alpine	+ 1.473