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British GP: Hamilton pips Mercedes F1 team-mate Rosberg in FP1

Lewis Hamilton narrowly pipped Mercedes Formula 1 team-mate Nico Rosberg to top spot in first practice for the British Grand Prix

Under cloudy skies at Silverstone, with both air and track temperatures low, both Hamilton and Rosberg ran only F1's medium-compound tyres during the 90 minutes.

The duo traded fast laps early, before Hamilton posted the quickest time of 1m31.654s, finishing just 0.033 seconds clear of Rosberg.

Both drivers set times faster than Hamilton's 2015 pole lap - 1m32.248s - and completed the session with long runs on used mediums, Rosberg doing a 23-lap stint and Hamilton 20.

Mercedes' nearest rivals were again some distance off the pace, with Force India's Nico Hulkenberg and Sebastian Vettel in his Ferrari just over eight tenths down.

Hulkenberg finished just 0.009s clear of fellow German Vettel who offered a glimpse of the updated halo cockpit protection device with a single installation lap at the start of the session.

In contrast to Hamilton and Rosberg, Vettel did not use the medium-compound tyre at any stage, instead starting out on the hards before concluding with softs.

The rest of the field were then all more than one second off the pace, headed by Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo and Kimi Raikkonen, who was confirmed as a Ferrari driver for 2017 before practice.

Red Bull's Max Verstappen, Sergio Perez for Force India, Carlos Sainz Jr in his Toro Rosso and McLaren's Fernando Alonso were all two seconds inside Hamilton's leading time, as they completed the top 10.

Beyond that, Toro Rosso's Daniil Kvyat was 11th quickest, with Jenson Button next up for McLaren, while Williams pair Valtteri Bottas and Felipe Massa had to settle for a lowly 13th and 14th.

In his first run in an F1 car on a grand prix weekend, driving Esteban Gutierrez's Haas, Charles Leclerc had a spin early on his way to the 18th-fastest time, 4.2s off the pace.

Renault also fielded its reserve in Mercedes junior Esteban Ocon, with the 19-year-old Frenchman a tenth of a second down on Leclerc in 19th.

FIRST PRACTICE RESULTS:

Pos Driver Car Time Gap Laps
1 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1m31.654s - 30
2 Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1m31.687s 0.033s 34
3 Nico Hulkenberg Force India/Mercedes 1m32.492s 0.838s 30
4 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 1m32.501s 0.847s 20
5 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull/Renault 1m32.773s 1.119s 30
6 Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari 1m33.039s 1.385s 28
7 Max Verstappen Red Bull/Renault 1m33.202s 1.548s 22
8 Sergio Perez Force India/Mercedes 1m33.235s 1.581s 30
9 Carlos Sainz Jr. Toro Rosso/Ferrari 1m33.446s 1.792s 19
10 Fernando Alonso McLaren/Honda 1m33.527s 1.873s 22
11 Daniil Kvyat Toro Rosso/Ferrari 1m33.738s 2.084s 20
12 Jenson Button McLaren/Honda 1m34.132s 2.478s 24
13 Valtteri Bottas Williams/Mercedes 1m34.263s 2.609s 38
14 Felipe Massa Williams/Mercedes 1m34.456s 2.802s 34
15 Romain Grosjean Haas/Ferrari 1m34.547s 2.893s 24
16 Jolyon Palmer Renault 1m34.787s 3.133s 29
17 Felipe Nasr Sauber/Ferrari 1m34.805s 3.151s 21
18 Charles Leclerc Haas/Ferrari 1m35.869s 4.215s 26
19 Esteban Ocon Renault 1m35.980s 4.326s 31
20 Marcus Ericsson Sauber/Ferrari 1m36.003s 4.349s 19
21 Pascal Wehrlein Manor/Mercedes 1m36.136s 4.482s 25
22 Rio Haryanto Manor/Mercedes 1m36.647s 4.993s 29

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