Lewis Hamilton fastest in British Grand Prix first practice

Sebastian Vettel

Sebastian Vettel ended the opening day of practice for the British Grand Prix at the top of the timesheets ahead Lewis Hamilton, who nevertheless came away with the fastest time of the day. Vettel lapped the 5.8-kilometre long Silverstone circuit in one minute 27.552 seconds on a sunny Friday afternoon pipping Hamilton by 0.187 seconds.

But while the Ferrari driver had the measure of his Mercedes rival, he couldn't quite beat Hamilton's one minute 27.487 second lap set during the first session, with the Briton also unable to improve on his earlier benchmark. "It's been a good Friday," said Vettel. "We've had rough Fridays. For a change, it seems like a good Friday."

Catch up on all the latest sports news and updates here. Also download the new mid-day Android and iOS apps to get latest updates