F1 British GP live commentary and updates - FP1

See you for FP2

A shot of your FP1 leader, as Lewis Hamilton opens his - unlikely - bid for an unimaginable 10th home win in Silverstone.

Action continues with second practice at 16:00 local BST. I make that 11:00 EST and 17:00 CET. See you then!

Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari

Photo by: Glenn Dunbar / LAT Images via Getty Images

One more thing of note from the longer medium-tyre runs. George Russell was following Lewis Hamilton and remarked how his former team-mate's tyres looked in much better shape than his.

That could be a theme this weekend. Can the recently upgraded Ferrari stay ahead here as well in the fight for second? Mercedes will be hoping for cooler weather, or even rain.

There are also words of praise from Sauber's Jonathan Wheatley for Paul Aron, who has also acquitted himself well despite that one little impeding issue.

It's another flying start for Racing Bulls with Hadjar and Lawson sixth and eighth respectively.

As we get to the finish line for this session, Verstappen goes off on his medium tyres as he further struggles with a lack of grip.

It's a very low-key 10th place for the reigning world champion.

"Unbelievable" is his response.

That McLaren would look better without all the naked carbon fibre, but teams have to make sure they don't add weight with a one-off livery. I am reliably told at least one team that has fallen foul of that recently...

It's 14th for Sainz, right behind Lindblad, and I'm feeling fairly confident this will be it for one-lap flyers.

Hamilton leads from Norris, Piastri, Leclerc and Russell.

Sainz is also out now on softs after all that Williams high fuel running and a comprehensive setup change.

And - pour la petite histoire - Lindblad's time is good for 13th, 1.066s off the leader.

So, what do you make of McLaren's one-off livery? Our reader Morgan has labelled it "ghastly".

Admittedly, chrome and orange is a tricky combination, isn't it?

Oscar Piastri, McLaren

Photo by: Glenn Dunbar / LAT Images via Getty Images

The barrage of one-lap runs appears largely over as most drivers are back in the pits.

Lindblad is out now for his soft-tyre run, while Alex Albon trades his hards for softs and goes seventh.

It's early days, but we have not seen Hamilton be so comfortable in a Ferrari right from FP1 this year.

Albon is back out on hards and is facing some brutal traffic through Copse, as Aron sits on the apex at pedestrian pace. Even on a track as wide as Silverstone that will happen.

From Williams, no damage for Sainz. Just adjustments.

"No problems at all with either car - we are on our run plan / test programme," a spokesperson confirmed.

Williams is taking a different approach, as Albon and Sainz are still right at the bottom having only run hards.

Okay, here we go. After a short mid-session lull most drivers are re-emerging on soft tyres for their hotlaps.

Furious work going on at Williams, with mechanics appearing to repair the floor of Carlos Sainz's car after he jumped over the kerbs earlier.

It's still very close at the top with Piastri and Russell also within two tenths of Hadjar.

As usual, it's a low-key start for Max Verstappen and Red Bull. The world champion is ninth, 0.666s behind. I say as usual because Red Bull famously tends to run with conservative engine modes on Friday.

Jake has since moved trackside and witnessed a hairy moment between Sauber's FP1 rookie Paul Aron and one of the McLarens.

"Grass was kicked up, some of it in my direction..."

I hope you don't suffer from hay fever like I do, mate.

Photo by: Jake Boxall-Legge

Thanks, JBL!

It's nice to see Sauber picking up some momentum after a torrid 2024. With both cars in the points in Austria, the team led by Mattia Binotto and Jonathan Wheatley has a real spring in its step now as it morphs into Audi next year.

Meanwhile, Arvid Lindblad is diligently plugging away, although he also took the Copse exit kerbs quite aggressively just then.

Its 14th on the timesheets so far for Lindblad.

Hamilton is soon bested once more, first by Norris and then by Russell's 1m27.971s.

The mediums are the tyre compound of choice for the majority of the field. Right now it's just the Astons and Williams cars that are on hards.

There come the McLarens, which have been given another one-off chrome and papaya livery. That chrome is really striking, it's almost like a mirror in broad daylight.

Norris and Piastri taken first and second, before quickly being demoted by Russell in the Mercedes. His early benchmark is a 1m28.570s on mediums. His pole last year was a 1m25.819s, just for reference.

Hamilton has also gone provisionally fastest with a 1m19.161s, but to put that in perspective, that's over three seconds away still from last year's pole set by George Russell.

Lewis Hamilton is one of the first cars out and gives a friendly wave to the fans on the outside of Turn 3. A nine-time winner here, four more than Jim Clark and Alain Prost.

Time to shift focus to the on-track running now as we are five minutes away from the green flag for FP1.

It's quite a bit cooler at Silverstone than it has been, with an air temperature of 22.2C and an initial track temperature of 37.6C.

That will be music to Mercedes' ears, as it is still struggling in hot conditions.

As Jake Boxall-Legge reported, other teams that have brought an upgraded floor include Sauber, Haas and Aston Martin.

In Aston's case, bringing them to the British Grand Prix was easy enough as its fancy new headquarters is literally across the road from the circuit entrance. The team was kind enough to invite journalists over for a quick tour and a canape last night.

Aston has now clarified Fernando Alonso will run the new floor and bodywork in FP1 with Lance Stroll starting on the older specification, for comparison's sake.

It's just a regular race weekend, unlike the sprint weekend at Spa in a few weeks, so we will just get two traditional one-hour practice sessions today.

Two rookie runners are in action today, Britain's Arvid Lindblad is in Yuki Tsunoda's Red Bull and Alpine reserve Paul Aron has been handed over to Sauber, where he will deputise for Nico Hulkenberg.

Lindblad, of Swedish-Indian descent, hasn't turned 18 yet, but the F2 frontunner has been granted an exemption to qualify for an FIA superlicence.

That allows Red Bull to cover off any eventualities with Max Verstappen still fairly close to a race ban. But it also helps the team evaluate its next big prospect, with Lindblad a frontrunner for F1 promotion next year.

Stefano Domenicali, CEO Formula One Group, Pole sitter Arvid Lindblad, Campos Racing

Photo by: Formula Motorsport Ltd