Lewis Hamilton topped sole practice for the 2026 Formula 1 British Grand Prix ahead of Kimi Antonelli as Charles Leclerc rounded out a strong Ferrari showing in third.
Hamilton delivered a best lap of 1:29.260 putting him 0.213 seconds clear of Antonelli who had led much of the running, while Leclerc finished six-tenths behind his teammate.
The hour-long session at Silverstone set the tone for a sprint weekend in which there was no room to ease in gently, as the teams had only one practice run before moving straight into sprint qualifying later in the day.
Several drivers headed out for their first run on hards and Hamilton immediately threw down an early benchmark of 1:34.6, before the Mercedes contingent entered the fray.
Kimi Antonelli clocked a 1:30.7 midway through the session to claim the top spot followed by McLaren duo of Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris, but the latter had his lap time deleted for track limit violation after going wide at Village.
George Russell later surged to P1 with a 1:32.5 before he was overpowered by Isack Hadjar in the Red Bull, whose reign at the top was also short-lived as Antonelli clawed back with a flying lap of 1:29.473.
Norris had another moment on the kerbs just as Piastri spun between Becketts and Chapel, bringing out the yellow flags with 25 minutes remaining.
F1 British Grand Prix 2026 schedule: Start time, how to watch
Max Verstappen drove past Piastri during the yellow flag but the FIA stewards ruled no further investigation required.
When teams swapped to the soft tyres with about 20 minutes to go, Piastri briefly took P1 before Russell shot to the top of the timing sheets. Antonelli then went half a second faster than Russell.
However, with about six minutes remaining Hamilton dashed for a final flyer and managed to go 0.2s faster than Antonelli in the final sector. His lap held as the benchmark as Antonelli spent the remaining minutes in his garage.
Full F1 2026 British Grand Prix FP1 Results
| Pos | Driver | Team | Time | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lewis Hamilton | Ferrari | 1:29.260 | |
| 2 | Kimi Antonelli | Mercedes | 1:29.473 | +0.213 |
| 3 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | 1:29.859 | +0.599 |
| 4 | George Russell | Mercedes | 1:29.938 | +0.678 |
| 5 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren | 1:30.147 | +0.887 |
| 6 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | 1:30.240 | +0.980 |
| 7 | Lando Norris | McLaren | 1:30.288 | +1.028 |
| 8 | Isack Hadjar | Red Bull | 1:30.338 | +1.078 |
| 9 | Nico Hulkenberg | Audi | 1:30.473 | +1.483 |
| 10 | Liam Lawson | Racing Bulls | 1:30.850 | +1.590 |
| 11 | Franco Colapinto | Alpine | 1:30.966 | +1.706 |
| 12 | Gabriel Bortoleto | Audi | 1:31.035 | +1.775 |
| 13 | Arvid Lindblad | Alpine | 1:31.339 | +2.079 |
| 14 | Oliver Bearman | Haas | 1:31.373 | +2.113 |
| 15 | Carlos Sainz | Williams | 1:31.684 | +2.424 |
| 16 | Esteban Ocon | Haas | 1:31.684 | +2.424 |
| 17 | Alex Albon | Williams | 1:32.697 | +2.437 |
| 18 | Valtteri Bottas | Cadillac | 1:32.236 | +2.976 |
| 19 | Sergio Perez | Cadillac | 1:32.951 | +2.691 |
| 20 | Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin | 1:32.957 | +2.697 |
| 21 | Pierre Gasly | Alpine | 1:33.019 | +3.759 |
| 22 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin | 1:33.130 | +3.870 |
