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Lewis Hamilton denied top spot by team-mate in British Grand Prix practice

Valtteri Bottas comes out on top as Mercedes duo fend off Ferrari and Red Bull

Finnish Formula One driver Valtteri Bottas of Mercedes in action during the second practice session of the British Grand Prix at the Silverstone Circuit. Photograph: Valdrin Xhemaj/EPA

Fri Jul 12 2019 - 20:03

Valtteri Bottas kept Mercedes team-mate Lewis Hamilton off the top of the timesheets in practice for the Formula One leader's home British Grand Prix on Friday, with Ferrari emerging as best of the rest.

The Finn, 31 points behind the five-times world champion after nine races, lapped the former airfield in one minute 26.732 seconds on soft tyres.

Crowd favourite Hamilton was 0.069 seconds slower, with Ferrari's Charles Leclerc third in 1:26.929.

Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel, winner at Silverstone last year but yet to triumph in 2019, was fourth but had an off-track excursion at Becketts.

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Red Bull's Pierre Gasly was quicker than team-mate Max Verstappen in both sessions, fastest overall on an overcast and changeable morning and then fifth in the afternoon.

Bottas had been top for most of that first session, however, until Gasly went quicker right at the end when conditions improved and a light drizzle ended.

Verstappen, winner of the previous race in Austria to end Mercedes' run of 10 successive wins, was third fastest in the morning.

Red Bull team boss Christian Horner suggested earlier in the week that the pressure of trying to match Verstappen was getting to Gasly and he should just focus on his driving and ignore social media.

The Frenchman was lapped by his team-mate in Austria and his seat has been under increasing scrutiny.

Hamilton has won four of the last five British Grands Prix and is chasing a fifth successive pole position in front of what is likely to be a record crowd well in excess of 140,000 on Sunday.

Renault raised their hopes with Nico Hülkenberg and Daniel Ricciardo seventh and eighth in the morning, but they dropped down to 14th and 15th after lunch, with the Australian ahead of his German team-mate.

McLaren’s Lando Norris was sixth in the second session, another impressive performance from a 19-year-old fast becoming a fan favourite.

Spanish team-mate Carlos Sainz was eighth.

Romain Grosjean provided a talking point of the morning when he crashed his Haas in the pit lane, smashing the car's front wing and leaving debris on the track after exiting.

Meanwhile, Alfa Romeo's Kimi Raikkonen stopped on track, bringing out a red flag.

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