Oscar Piastri’s hopes of making an early impression at the British Grand Prix were dashed when mechanical problems hampered his progress in the first practice session.
But the Australian McLaren driver was able to secure third place behind his teammate Lando Norris.
Norris recovered from his disappointment in Austria by topping the timesheets at the legendary 5.891km Silverstone circuit with a time of 1 minute 27.420 seconds ahead of Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll.
Three-time world champion Max Verstappen finished fourth for Red Bull, 0.309 seconds behind the leaders in cool conditions.
Verstappen and Norris collided while battling for the lead in the closing stages of last weekend’s Austrian GP. Norris’ race was over, Verstappen dropped to fifth place and Mercedes’ George Russell gave him an unexpected victory.
Russell was fifth on Friday in a session that was red-flagged twice after Yuki Tsunoda’s Visa RB got stuck in the gravel and when Piastri was forced to stop with what he suspected was a hydraulic problem.
There were several newcomers at the start of the first practice session, the best being Briton Oliver Bearman in 14th place. He represents Kevin Magnussen at Haas, where he will replace Nico Hülkenberg from 2025.
Red Bull let teenager Isack Hadjar sit in Sergio Perez’s car, Argentinian Franco Colapinto made his debut at Williams in place of Logan Sargeant and Jack Doohan sat in Pierre Gasly’s Alpine.
Verstappen leads the championship by 81 points over Norris as the 24-race season reaches the halfway point with Sunday’s race.