SILVERSTONE: Fan favourite Lando Norris lapped fastest in British Grand Prix practice on Friday as an army of McLaren Formula One fans, many of themcheeringfroma sold-out`Landostand`, got what they wanted to see.

The Briton was top of the second session with a best effort of one minute 25.816 seconds, with Ferrari`s Charles Leclerc 0.222 slower and Lewis Hamilton 0.301 off the pace after going quickest in the first practice.

McLaren`s championship leader Oscar Piastri was fourth fastest with Red Bull`s four-times champion Max Verstappen fifth and Mercedes Kimi Antonelli, who will have a three-place grid drop for Friday`s race, sixth.

Lance Stroll was seventh for Aston Martin with Mercedes` George Russell eighth. Racing Bulls` Isack Hadjar was ninth and team-mate Liam Lawson 10th.

Hamilton, last year`s race winner, had raised hopes of more home heroics with the fastest lap of 1:26.892 in first practice while 17-year-old Arvid Lindblad looked strong in his debut session for Red Bull.

Hamilton is on a career-low run of 13 races without a podium finish but is a record nine-times home race winner and hoping to end the drought.

The seven-times world champion is racing at home in Ferrari`s red colours for the first time. The Italian team have yet to win this season, the only top-four outfit yet to do so. Hamilton had not led a practice session this year before Friday, although he was fastest in Chinese sprint qualifying.

Norris, winner in Austria last weekend, was 0.023 slower in session one with Piastri third.

Piastri leads Norris by 15 points with Silverstone marking the 24-race season`s midpoint. Champions McLaren have a dominant 207 points advantage over Ferrari in the constructors` standings.

Lindblad, replacing Yuki Tsunoda for first practice only, to satisfy young driver testing requirements, ended up 14th fastest with a time only half a second behind that of team-mate and reigning champion Verstappen, who was 10th in that session.-ReutersSILVERSTONE: Fan favourite Lando Norris lapped fastest in British Grand Prix practice on Friday as an army of McLaren Formula One fans, many of themcheeringfroma sold-out`Landostand`, got what they wanted to see.

The Briton was top of the second session with a best effort of one minute 25.816 seconds, with Ferrari`s Charles Leclerc 0.222 slower and Lewis Hamilton 0.301 off the pace after going quickest in the first practice.

McLaren`s championship leader Oscar Piastri was fourth fastest with Red Bull`s four-times champion Max Verstappen fifth and Mercedes Kimi Antonelli, who will have a three-place grid drop for Friday`s race, sixth.

Lance Stroll was seventh for Aston Martin with Mercedes` George Russell eighth. Racing Bulls` Isack Hadjar was ninth and team-mate Liam Lawson 10th.

Hamilton, last year`s race winner, had raised hopes of more home heroics with the fastest lap of 1:26.892 in first practice while 17-year-old Arvid Lindblad looked strong in his debut session for Red Bull.

Hamilton is on a career-low run of 13 races without a podium finish but is a record nine-times home race winner and hoping to end the drought.

The seven-times world champion is racing at home in Ferrari`s red colours for the first time. The Italian team have yet to win this season, the only top-four outfit yet to do so. Hamilton had not led a practice session this year before Friday, although he was fastest in Chinese sprint qualifying.

Norris, winner in Austria last weekend, was 0.023 slower in session one with Piastri third.

Piastri leads Norris by 15 points with Silverstone marking the 24-race season`s midpoint. Champions McLaren have a dominant 207 points advantage over Ferrari in the constructors` standings.

Lindblad, replacing Yuki Tsunoda for first practice only, to satisfy young driver testing requirements, ended up 14th fastest with a time only half a second behind that of team-mate and reigning champion Verstappen, who was 10th in that session.-Reuters