Norris Sets Pace in British GP Practice, Leclerc Second

Lando Norris Tops British Grand Prix Practice

The fans’ favorite driver, Lando Norris, set the fastest time in Friday’s practice for the British Grand Prix, watched by a crowd of McLaren Formula 1 fans, many of them cheering from the fully packed ‘Landostand’. The Briton led the second session with a time of 1:25.816, surpassing Charles Leclerc of Ferrari by 0.222 seconds and Lewis Hamilton by 0.301 seconds, who had been the fastest in the first practice. The championship leader with McLaren, Oscar Piastri, placed fourth, followed by Max Verstappen of Red Bull in fifth place and Kimi Antonelli of Mercedes, who will have a three-place grid penalty for Sunday’s race, in sixth place. Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll was seventh, while Mercedes’ George Russell was eighth. Racing Bulls’ Isack Hadjar was ninth and his teammate, Liam Lawson, tenth. Hamilton, winner of last year’s race, generated expectations with the fastest lap of 1:26.892 in the first practice, while 17-year-old Arvid Lindblad showed a good performance in his debut session with Red Bull. Hamilton, who is looking to break a streak of 13 races without a podium finish, a personal record, is the all-time winner in his home race, with nine victories, and hopes to end this drought. The seven-time world champion races at home in the red colors of Ferrari for the first time. The Italian team has not yet won this season, being the only team among the top four that has not achieved it.

Hamilton hadn’t led a practice session this year before Friday, although he was the fastest in the sprint qualifying in China. Norris, winner in Austria last weekend, was 0.023 seconds slower in the first session, with Piastri in third place. Piastri leads Norris by 15 points, and Silverstone marks the halfway point of the 24-race season. McLaren, the champion, has a dominant lead of 207 points over Ferrari in the constructors’ standings. Lindblad, replacing Yuki Tsunoda only for the first practice, to fulfill the young driver testing requirements, finished in 14th place, only half a second behind his teammate and reigning champion Verstappen, who was tenth in that session. Red Bull had to request a special dispensation from the FIA to allow the Anglo-Swedish driver with Indian ancestry to drive despite being under 18 years old, and the team principal, Christian Horner, was satisfied with what he saw.

I thought he behaved very well, his feedback was clear and concise. He is definitely a promise for the future.

Christian Horner

Only one other driver had debuted so young in a Grand Prix weekend, and that was Verstappen in practice for the Japanese Grand Prix in 2014, three days after turning 17. The Brazilian rookie Gabriel Bortoleto did a complete spin with his Sauber at high speed but without problems in the first session. The Estonian Paul Aron drove for Sauber, replacing Nico Hulkenberg for the first practice, and finished in 17th place. The fans showed up in force, after 60,000 on Thursday. Attendance for the four days is expected to be a record half a million people.