F2 Britain: Mercedes' Russell dominates practice at Silverstone

Alexander Albon finished second for DAMS and McLaren F1 reserve driver Lando Norris ended up in third place.

Russell set a best time of 1m40.410s - 0.7s quicker on a than anyone else - during a series of fast laps that were set during the early running in the 45-minute session.

After topping practice, qualifying and the feature race last weekend in Austria, the 20-year-old is the first driver to top two F2 practice sessions so far this year.

Albon sealed second with a 1m41.120s, although after his completing his quick lap and returning to the pits he sat shaking his head in his car.

If he had a problem during FP1, it was not obvious, and he completed 15 laps in the session, which is comparable to his rivals.

Carlin driver Norris completed the top three having topped the times twice early-on, during which he also survived a big moment at Turn 1.

Norris also hit the right-rear of Sean Gelael's Prema Racing-run car at Luffield, damaging the left side of his front wing.

The only driver to buck the trend up front and post a quick time later in the session was Ralph Boschung, whose retirement reason in Austria has been diagnosed as a fuel pick-up issue.

It appears the problem has been rectified for the Swiss MP Motorsport driver, who finished FP1 in fourth place.

Jack Aitken was a second off team-mate Russell's best in fifth, and the ART duo remained in the pits for the final three minutes of the session.

Luca Ghiotto took sixth as the top Campos Racing driver, ahead of Sergio Sette Camara (Carlin) and Boschung's team-mate Roberto Merhi.

The Charouz Racing System drivers Louis Deletraz - with an engine issue that impacted his drives in Austria seemingly fixed - and Antonio Fuoco rounded out the top 10.

Fuoco had a massive moment at Turn 1 with 15 minutes to go, as he grappled with mid-corner oversteer.

The session was ended fractionally early as Maxi Gunther (Arden) crashed at Turn 1, but the German driver held on to his 12th place spot, just behind Austria sprint race winner Artem Markelov.

Earlier on, the struggling Nicholas Latifi had spun out, which ended his session after he had completed just five laps. Latifi ended up 18th in the FP1 times.

Practice results