Formula 1 returned to Silverstone with an action-packed FP1 session for the British GP. Ferrari set the early pace, with Lewis Hamilton leading a tight field ahead of McLaren’s Lando Norris. Max Verstappen and Red Bull found themselves further down the order, while rookies Arvid Lindblad and Paul Aron gained valuable mileage in their FP1 debuts.
What is important ahead of the weekend?
Formula 1 returns to Silverstone for the 2025 British GP, as the battle for championship points heats up.
With McLaren aiming to continue their strong form and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen hungry for redemption after his Austrian GP DNF, fans can expect a thrilling weekend.
Historic and unpredictable, Silverstone has seen iconic moments over the years — could this weekend deliver another? FP1 also welcomes new faces, with Paul Aron debuting for Sauber and Red Bull Junior Arvid Lindblad taking part in the session.
Green light for FP1 a the British GP
FP1 at the British GP saw two young rookies take centre stage, with Arvid Lindblad replacing Yuki Tsunoda at Red Bull and Paul Aron stepping in for Nico Hülkenberg at Sauber.
The field wasted no time getting out on track, with most opting for the medium compound tyres, though Williams and Aston Martin chose to run the hards. Notably, Aston Martin only fitted upgrades to Fernando Alonso’s car, while Lance Stroll ran the older package for comparison purposes.
Early pace-setters emerged quickly, with Lando Norris setting a 1:28.570 before George Russell went faster with a 1:28.495. Oscar Piastri wasn’t far off, just a tenth behind. As the session developed, Piastri improved further, topping the timesheets with a 1:27.761.
Max Verstappen, running Red Bull’s new floor, ended his initial run in fourth, 0.398s off Russell’s early benchmark. Verstappen’s weekend was already drawing media attention due to ongoing rumours linking him to Mercedes for 2026.
Lewis Hamilton, chasing a record 10th home win, briefly went quickest for Ferrari—suggesting their new floor, introduced in Austria, was continuing to yield gains.
Esteban Ocon was the only driver not to set a time, having completed just two installation laps before returning to the garage. Meanwhile, teammate Ollie Bearman impressed early with a stint inside the top 12 during his home race debut.
Pierre Gasly provided some drama with a spin at Copse, losing the rear after running wide onto the kerbs. Though he managed a full 360 and carried on, the incident flat-spotted his tyres. Stroll also spun later, as gusty winds caused headaches for several drivers.
Halfway point
After initial installation and shakedown laps, most drivers returned to the pits for debriefs, leaving Charles Leclerc as the only car circulatin, still on his original set of medium tyres. The Ferrari driver had been in solid form recently, with top-five finishes in each of the last four races.
Carlos Sainz, meanwhile, ran wide over the kerbs, prompting Williamsto inspect or possibly change his floor. His car remained on stands for much of the session as a result.
Attention soon shifted to a set of hot laps, as Verstappen, Gasly, and Lindblad emerged on softs. Expectations were high for Verstappen to set the pace, while Lindblad continued to gain valuable experience, and Gasly aimed to gauge Alpine’s performance.
However, Verstappen delivered a surprisingly slow opening sector and failed to recover, ending up third, one tenth behind Isack Hadjar’s time on mediums. Lindblad remained 17th, with Gasly just behind in 18th.
Norris then jumped to the top with a 1:27.354, 0.148s clear of Hadjar. Piastri was flying too, and briefly took P1, before Leclerc went quicker by nearly two tenths.
George Russell slotted into second, just 0.068s off Leclerc’s best, while Hamilton was down in 11th at that stage.
A brief yellow flag was caused by a spin for Gabriel Bortoleto at Copse. The Brazilian rookie lost control after hitting the kerbs and spun multiple times across the grass, but managed to keep going and confirmed he was fine over team radio.
Back on track, Piastri improved again, reclaiming P1 with a 0.053s margin over Leclerc, and 0.121s clear of Russell. Andrea Kimi Antonelli also found more time but remained outside the top spots.
Norris responded with another flyer to retake the lead, only to be swiftly beaten by Lewis Hamilton, who posted a session-best 1:26.892. The Ferrari driver edged Norris by just 0.023s, marking a strong statement after a quiet start.
Elsewhere, Williams were running out of sync with the rest of the pack. Alex Albon took to the track on softs later in the session, while Sainz continued on hards, as both sought answers amid recent reliability concerns and a dip in form.
The final runs
Red Bull had work to do. Max Verstappen was only 10th, while Arvid Lindblad, in his FP1 debut, sat 13th. Both were off the pace, with Lindblad a second down on the leader and half a second adrift of Verstappen. Carlos Sainz finally emerged on softs in the final ten minutes and slotted into 14th. Williams, meanwhile, had been testing cooling solutions as they continued to search for answers to recent struggles.
Paul Aron ended his session in 17th, ahead of Sauber teammate Bortoleto, who had earlier spun and flat-spotted his tyres. Aron completed 21 laps, one more than Lindblad, with both rookies delivering composed performances.
Fernando Alonso experienced a minor moment out on track, possibly triggered by a gust of wind, but kept his Aston Martin pointing in the right direction. He finished 11th, while teammate Lance Stroll also ran the hard tyre as the team continued to compare upgrade data. Many drivers used the final part of the session to gather long-run data, with high-fuel laps on medium and hard compounds.
In the closing moments, the entire field returned to the circuit to take the chequered flag and conduct practice starts. This led to a few traffic jams, including one involving Franco Colapinto slowing Hamilton and Russell, and another group bunching up behind Leclerc.
Final results of FP1 at the 2025 British GP
- Hamilton
- Norris
- Piastri
- Leclerc
- Russell
- Hadjar
- Albon
- Lawson
- Antonelli
- Verstappen
- Alonso
- Stroll
- Sainz
- Lindblad
- Ocon
- Colapinto
- Aron
- Bearman
- Gasly
- Bortoleto
