Lewis Hamilton led a Mercedes one-two in first practice for the British GP at Silverstone, the home favourite lapping the 3.6-mile circuit just under four-tenths faster than team-mate Valterri Bottas.
The Mercedes driver’s traded fastest times on several occasions during the session, with Hamilton leading with a 1m 28.908s at the mid-way point.
Bottas then responded with a 1m 28.143s tour to move back ahead of the Briton by just 0.010s, extending this to a 0.299s advantage shortly after.
Hamilton then fought back with a 1m 27.487s to re-take the top spot in the closing stages of the session, a time that Bottas was unable to better in the remaining minutes.
Sebastian Vettel finished up FP1 as best-of-the-rest for Ferrari, the current championship leader posting a time just over half-a-second away from Hamilton’s pace-setting lap, while Daniel Ricciardo was the highest placed Red Bull driver in fourth.
Kimi Raikkonen was one of several drivers to suffer a spin during the session, the Finn looping his Ferrari while exiting the Brooklands corner, although he was still able to end the session fifth on the timesheets.
Austrian Grand Prix victor Max Verstappen had a tough FP1, only managing sixth in the second of the Red Bull Racing machines, also being the last man to lap within a second of Hamilton’s Mercedes.
The Dutchman’s RB14 then suffered a suspected gearbox failure in the final few minutes of the session, meaning a potential five-place grid penalty beckons.
Haas continued where they left off from Austria by leading the midfield battle at the end of FP1, Romain Grosjean posting a 1m 29.352s to lead Sergio Perez by just under half-a-second.
Grosjean would however taint his stunning effort by crashing his Haas at the exit of Turn 1 after failing to de-activate his DRS system, the Haas plowing into the barrier on the outside of the corner.
The resulting damage forced the Frenchman to sit on the sidelines for the rest of the session.
Rounding out the top ten were Esteban Ocon in the second Force India and, encouragingly, the Williams of Lance Stroll in ninth and tenth respectively.
While Stroll gave something for Williams to smile about, Sergey Sirotkin did the opposite. The Russian lapped the slowest of the 20 runners, while also suffering a bizarre spin at Club corner early in the session that saw his FW41 take a quick trip to the gravel.
McLaren’s 2018 struggles continued in FP1, Fernando Alonso leading Stoffel Vandoorne in 15th and 17th places respectively, the duo lapping nearly three-seconds slower than Hamilton’s fastest session time.
