FP1: Gasly ahead with last minute effort

F1 Grand Prix, GP Great-Britain, Silverstone Circuit

Red Bull's Pierre Gasly topped his first-ever free practice session at Silverstone as he was half a second clear of anyone thanks to a last-minute effort on soft tyres. Valtteri Bottas was second fastest, followed by Max Verstappen in third.

Friday morning's action saw British rookies George Russel and Lando Norris both spin early on in the session as they went a little too far in exploring the limits of the track with the new surface.

Moments later, Kimi Raikkonen came to a halt, albeit not by his fault as something on his Alfa Romeo broke down, leaving a plume of white smoke behind the car as he stumbled to a halt. The Finn first willingly helped the marshalls to get his car off track during a brief red flag session but opted to sit upon the car once it got properly moving.

At Haas, troubles continued as never before. On the back of their title sponsor Rich Energy announcing yesterday, they'd get out of their deal with Haas due to lack of performance, followed by a revert of that statement, Romain Grosjean now spun in the pit exit. The Frenchman lost control of his car while accelerating out of the right-hander that leads to the circuit, breaking his front wing in the event.

Grosjean, who drove back into the pitlane after spinning, was running with the car's aerodynamic specification from Australia, the first race of the season to help the team better understand their recent struggles.

Grosjean was later seen spinning on track again but without damage this time around. Verstappen and Hamilton also ran off track just before the rain made the track even more slippery.

When everything dried again, it was eventually Gasly who set the fastest time on the soft tyres as he made use of the improved track conditions at the very end of the session.