2024 British Grand Prix Friday round-up: Norris fastest in practice at Silverstone

Early morning drizzle persisted in the skies above Silverstone, setting the tone for what was predicted to be a typical wet and windy 2024 British Grand Prix weekend.

All four categories were represented on the first day of on-track running and with an expectant sell-out home crowd flooding into the circuit, the Brits were already gunning for glory.

F1

Practice 1

A number of F1 teams opted to run their junior drivers in Free Practice 1 of the British Grand Prix. The Formula 2 hopefuls at the wheel were newly signed Oliver Bearman at Haas, Alpine’s Jack Doohan, Franco Colapinto with Williams and Isack Hadjar at Red Bull.

A break in the weather meant that F1’s first practice session was also the first dry session of the day.

In the opening 10 minutes, it was the Mercedes duo of eight-time Silverstone winner Lewis Hamilton and Austria race winner George Russell setting the pace. Russell went fastest on the Hard tyres with a 1:28.156, and Hamilton second a tenth back.

Before drivers could settle into a rhythm, Yuki Tsunoda made a mistake at Luffield and ended up in the gravel, causing a red flag.

As the session got back underway, Max Verstappen, also on the Hards, went fastest in the first sector and third fastest overall. Meanwhile, on the first Soft tyre run, Oliver Bearman went fifth fastest.

At the session’s halfway point, Hamilton set the fastest lap going three thousandths quicker than Russell, but Sainz quickly bettered them both. Lando Norris was 13th after the Hard tyre runs.

The second half of the session brought with it more soft tyre running. Verstappen, Russell and Leclerc all moved to Mediums and took first, second and third respectively, separated by a tenth and a half.

Piastri went to the top of the times at the 20-minute mark, with the first Soft tyre run of the front runners. Lando went fourth with his first attempt on the Softs, but quickly bettered it with a 1:27.420 to go fastest.

An unexpected time from Lance Stroll slotted him into second a tenth behind Lando. Aston Martin team-mate Fernando Alonso confirmed the team’s pace by setting the sixth-fastest time.

While on an out lap for a second Soft tyre run, Piastri suffered technical issues and limped into the pitlane as practice neared its end. 

Even though the session was winding down, there was yet more drama to come. On a cool-down lap, Isack Hadjar slowed through the high-speed Farm Curve and Lando Norris had to take evasive action to avoid him.

In the final classification, home hero Lando Norris topped the pile with Stroll second, Piastri third, Verstappen fourth and Russell completing the top five.

Practice 2

For the first runs, the majority of the field was on the Medium tyre. Verstappen set the early pace by going fastest with a 1:27.831, but both Norris and Russell were close behind.

Hamilton and the Ferrari drivers then moved to within two-tenths of Max, while Sainz set exactly the same time as Lewis.

With just 15 minutes on the books, Verstappen changed tact and went for a set of Soft tyres. Utilising the superior grip, he put eight-tenths of a second between himself and the pack.

Still on the Medium tyres, Russell closed to just two-tenths off Max’s Soft tyre time.

Then came the other Soft tyre laps; Valtteri Bottas, Alonso, Stroll and Sainz were all less than a tenth away from Red Bull driver’s best effort.

It wasn’t long before faster times were set, courtesy of Leclerc, Hulkenberg, Piastri and finally Norris who went three-tenths quicker than anyone else.

With 25 minutes left on the clock, Sergio Perez went third fastest with the last qualifying run. Long runs dominated the remainder of the session, but they were cut short as rain started to fall in the pitlane with five minutes to go.

Norris made it two from two, ending FP2 quickest, followed by Piastri, Perez, Hulkenberg and Leclerc.

F1 RESULTS: 2024 British Grand Prix practice

FIA Formula 2

Practice

Consistent rainfall between sessions meant F2 Practice started under VSC to enable drivers to acclimatise to track conditions. Like F3 before it, a number of drivers bided their time, staying in the pits until the track improved.

Championship leader Paul Aron ventured out in the treacherous conditions and set the early pace, dipping under the 2-minute mark with a 1:59.526.

Just after the halfway point, home favourite Zak O’Sullivan jumped to second in the times. He was followed by Austria Feature Race winner Invicta Racing’s Gabriel Bortoleto who then set the 10th fastest time, as the rain started to ease off.

The Prema pairing of Oliver Bearman and Kimi Antonelli stayed in the pits until the 20-minute mark, but were on the pace as soon as they turned a wheel in anger. Bearman went quickest with 1:59.474 and Antonelli was just one-hundredth behind.

Josep María Martí and Joshua Durksen quickly improved on those times to displace the Premas, with the Paraguayan driver setting the fastest time of 1:58.064.

Franco Colapinto was the first to venture out on slick tyres, and others followed suit as teams ascertained the wet-dry crossover pace.

Many drivers took to the run-off as they found the limits of adhesion in the session’s final moments. Eventually, it was Durksen who ended up fastest ahead of Richard Verschoor with Taylor Barnard in third.

Qualifying 

With the risk of rain looming once again, the entire field was eager to set a lap as early as possible in the 30-minute F2 Qualifying.

After the initial laps, Bearman was fastest from Aron four hundredths behind and Maini just over a tenth back.

In the second runs, it was Aron who had the upper hand followed by Maini and O’Sullivan.

Beginning his final run, Aron was pitched into a spectacular 720 spin at Abbey, ending any hopes of a competitive final lap.

The order changed continuously as the time ticked down, but in the final reckoning, it was Hadjar who came out on top, ahead of Martins, Hauger, Colapinto and Bearman.

FIA Formula 3

Practice

As the FIA Formula 3 contingent were the first to make their way out onto the track, they were tasked with clearing surface water from the track.

The Brits set the early pace in conditions Arvid Lindblad and Joseph Loake top the timesheets after 10 minutes of running. But as the wet weather tyres displaced the surface water, lap times tumbled.

Championship leader and Williams Junior Driver Luke Browning opted not to run in the session, saving his fresh wet tyres for qualifying.

Max Esterton set the final fastest time on wet tyres (2:00.153), before several drivers bolted on slicks with hopes of dialling into the circuit in dry conditions.

Before those on slicks could set a lap in earnest, rain fell once again with greater intensity than before, forcing everyone to pit and switch back to the wet weather rubber.

Ultimately, it was Esterton who remained at the top of the times with Shields as the highest-placed Brit in second and Tsolov third.

Qualifying

A disrupted FIA Formula 3 Qualifying was thought to be cut short as poor weather returned, but track improvements in the final moments meant it wasn’t over until it was.

The pressure was on for the 30-strong field, who knew they had to capitalise on dry conditions while they lasted. Before anyone had completed a lap, reports of rain threatened chaos.  

It was a frantic first ten minutes as drivers scrambled to get a lap on the board. Noel León was one of the first drivers to cross the line and, try as they might, the rest of the field were unable to match him through the rest of the first runs.

Crucially for the championship, Gabriele Minì was the highest placed of the contenders in third, while Luke Browning languished down in 12th. Dino Beganovich fell foul of track limits at Copse on his first run and rain curtailed his second effort.

From then on, lap time was at the mercy of the conditions, which were too poor for a competitive run. That was until a flurry of activity in the last few minutes as the track dried rapidly.

The order shuffled considerably with each lap set, but it was Browning who topped the times when it mattered most, followed by Esterton and Sami Meguetounif.