Logan Sargeant ended the Formula 2 practice session from the Silverstone Circuit on top of the timesheet, setting a lap time of 1:40.902.
Sargeant, who is fresh from his second podium result of the season last time out in Baku, was 0.037s faster than Felipe Drugovich in second.
Drugovich’s strong form looks set to continue this weekend at the British event, as he enters the round holding a 49-point lead in the Drivers’ Championship over Theo Pourchaire.
Pourchaire himself ended the session inside the top five, but still wound up behind Jack Doohan and Ayumu Iwasa, who were third and fourth respectively.
Liam Lawson was sixth for Carlin, heading DAMS’ Roy Nissany in seventh.
Jehan Daruvala was eighth, with his team-mate Dennis Hauger suffering an aggressive spin at Turn 1 early in the session.
Hauger wasn’t the only driver to find trouble during the outing – Calan Williams caused a red flag when he collided with the wall on a fast lap.
The session ended under another red flag when Marino Sato was forced to pull to the side of the road with a car issue.
Juri Vips was ninth, amid a period of controversy for the Estonian driver after he made a recent racist remark on a live stream, which led to him losing his association with Red Bull.
Vips’ team-mate Marcus Armstrong was 10th.
Qualifying for the Silverstone weekend will get underway at 17:30 local time.
