2024 F1 British Grand Prix: Free Practice results

A traditionally wet and windy Silverstone awaited the 20 F1 drivers as the 2024 British Grand Prix had its first competitive running of the weekend.

Friday’s two Free Practice sessions presented a first opportunity to dial into the circuit and understand how this year’s cars will react to the demanding high-speed layout.

The third and final practice on Saturday morning was affected by continuous rainfall, providing the drivers with valuable insight ahead of qualifying and the race itself. 

FP1 snapshot 

F2 drivers Oliver Bearman (Haas), Jack Doohan (Alpine), Franco Colapinto (Williams) and Isack Hadjar (Red Bull) were on track for FP1 at the British Grand Prix.

The first dry session of the day was a competitive one, with a number of drivers taking their turn at the top of the table.

Initially, Austria race winner George Russell went fastest before a beached Yuki Tsunoda brought out the red flags.

Oliver Bearman was the first to bolt on the Soft tyres and went fifth fastest. Lewis Hamilton took over at the top of the times before the Ferrari of Carlos Sainz got ahead of both Mercedes cars.

More Soft tyre runs came in the second half of the session, and it was Max Verstappen who utilised the superior grip to go quickest.

The McLarens showed their hand shortly after, with Oscar Piastri vaulting to the top and Lando Norris displacing his team-mate not long after that.

Lance Stroll posted a headline time to go second fastest with the other Aston Martin of Fernando Alonso not far behind in sixth.

Piastri’s McLaren coasted into the pitlane with technical gremlins as the session drew to a close.

With drivers on cool-down laps, Norris was forced to take avoiding action as Hadjar slowed on the exit of Farm Curve. A dramatic near-miss to round out the session.

2024 British Grand Prix FP1 results

FP2 snapshot 

The weather once again held off for the start of the second instalment of F1 practice, a session which turned out to be even more competitive than the first.

Verstappen was quickest in the early Medium tyre runs, pursued by the British trio and the Ferrari drivers. 
With 15 minutes of the session complete, Verstappen switched to the Softs and went eight-tenths faster.

Russell showed strong pace on the Mediums to close to within two-tenths of Max’s Soft tyre time, but when others took on the Softs the pace intensified further still.

Valtteri Bottas and the two Aston Martins got within a tenth and a half of the reigning champion’s time.  

Several drivers then bested the Red Bull driver’s best effort. First, Charles Leclerc went quickest, then the Haas of Nico Hülkenberg, then Piastri followed swiftly by Norris, who streaked three-tenths clear of his team-mate.

Sergio Perez slotted into third with 25 minutes remaining, at which point the long runs were underway.

Rain returned in the final five minutes of the session, bringing FP2 to an early close.

2024 British Grand Prix FP2 results

FP3 snapshot 

Rain persisted into Saturday and the third and final practice session was deemed wet at its outset.

All 20 cars were out on track on the Intermediates at the start of the session, and it was Yuki Tsunoda who set the early pace of a 1:47.080, before a spin at Vale for Pierre Gasly brought out the red flags.

In an attempt to keep heat in his tyres as he entered the pits, Daniel Ricciardo weaved in the pitlane and earned himself a post-session investigation.

With six minutes lost under red flags, the green lights were displayed at one-quarter session distance.

As the circuit dried from moment to moment, lap times tumbled equally as rapidly. Leclerc, Piastri, Hamilton, Norris, Tsunoda and Verstappen all had a turn at the top of the table.

Just after the 30-minute mark, Russell finally took his turn to top the times with a 1:37.529, and team-mate Hamilton moved to within three hundredths of his time. Norris made it a British 1-2-3 a tenth further back.

From that point on, the rain intensified and there were no further lap time improvements. The three Brits remained at the top of the table to lock out the top spots ahead of qualifying.

2024 British Grand Prix FP3 results

GET UP TO SPEED: Answers to all of the important questions about F1 at Silverstone