Max Verstappen went fastest in the opening practice session for the British Grand Prix, ahead of Sergio Perez and Alex Albon.
The reigning champion arrives in Silverstone with an 81 point advantage in the Driver’s Championship ahead of Sergio Perez and is also seeking a sixth-consecutive F1 win.
Read More: F1 2023 British GP – FP1 Results
Verstappen looks to have carried his indomitable form into this weekend and was once again some margin clear of the field, including teammate Sergio Perez.
The Dutchman holds a 0.448s advantage to Perez heading into FP2 later this afternoon. The Williams of Alex Albon was third fastest, again within half-a-second of Verstappen.
Mercedes, who have brought sizeable upgrades to Silverstone, had a rough opening practice session with both drivers complaining of grip limitations and vibrations. Hamillton ended the session 12th, while Russell was only fast enough for 14th.
The Silver Arrows did not run the soft tyres, perhaps exaggerating their deficit as things stand.
Fernando Alonso ended FP1 in fourth, narrowly ahead of Charles Leclerc, Esteban Ocon and Carlos Sainz. Lance Stroll was ninth fastest and Oscar Piastri, who is in receipt of McLaren’s latest components, completed the top ten.
Nyck de Vries was 11th fastest despite a spin at Luffield. The rookie is under immense pressure to string together some solid results having failed to do so in Austria. His AlphaTauri teammate Yuki Tsunoda was only 16th fastest.
FP2 follows later this afternoon at 16:00 local time.
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