Ferrari Formula 1 junior Charles Leclerc topped the opening practice session ahead of Formula 2’s fourth round of the season at Silverstone.
The Monegasque sat at the top of the timesheets for the majority of the session, which was unusually held on a Thursday afternoon as part of a new trial along with the GP3 practice session.
Leclerc set the pace with a 1m40.695s, which was 0.315s quicker than his championship rival Oliver Rowland, who was second quickest for DAMS.
Luca Ghiotto edged Rowland’s team-mate Nicholas Latifi for third place in the session, with Austrian sprint race winner Artem Markelov in fifth.
On his debut for Rapax, Sergio Canamasas was sixth fastest, 0.633s adrift from pacesetter Leclerc.
Local driver, Jordan King was seventh ahead of Nyck de Vries, Norman Nato and Racing Engineering’s Louis Deletraz who completed the top 10.
ART Grand Prix struggled to find the right balance, with Nobuharu Matsushita and Alexander Albon a lowly 14th and 15th.
F2 debutant Callum Ilott is the third British driver competing this weekend, he was 18th quickest, 0.003s faster than Trident team-mate Nabil Jeffri.
