British Formula 1 Grand Prix 2015: Results, Times for Practice and Qualifying

Lewis Hamilton will be looking to get back on track in the race for the Formula One world title in front of his adoring home supporters at the British Grand Prix this weekend.

The Mercedes man had his lead at the top of the standings cut down to just 10 points after team-mate Nico Rosberg surged to an impressive victory in Austria last time out. But given Lewis’ familiarity with the iconic Silverstone circuit and memories of his triumph here 12 months ago still fresh, the Brit will fancy his chances of getting back on the winning trail.

Preparations for this race will be vital, and after a turbulent time of things in the practice sessions in Austria, Hamilton will be hoping for a much smoother buildup to Sunday’s showpiece.

Read on for all the latest updates from Silverstone.

Lewis Hamilton took will take pole position in Sunday’s British Grand Prix, after he narrowly beat Mercedes teammate Nico Rosberg to the post in an exhilarating qualifying session at Silverstone.

The Englishman came into the session off the back of a strong P3, and came out looking strong by posting a time of one minute, 34.009 seconds.

However, not to be one-upped, Rosberg responded with an excellent 1:33:654.

While the Mercedes duo were finding the Silverstone track easy to negotiate, Q1 brought about plenty of retirees.

Among them were McLaren’s Jenson Button and Fernando Alonso, who both had trouble in P3 earlier on Saturday.

It was Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen who led proceedings after the first lap, with teammate Sebastian Vettel slotted in between Rosberg and Hamilton in the top four.

Still, it was all just a case of when Hamilton would strike.

He looked to take his chance in Q2, but a slight lock-on meant that he had to give second best to Rosberg, who flew round in an impressive 1:32:737.

We’ve been lucky enough to witness many epic qualifying duels between Hamilton and Rosberg, and their tussle for British Grand Prix dominance was up there with the very best of them.

BBC F1 commentator David Coulthard reflected on just how tight it was at the top, via BBC Sport:

"I'm buzzing inside. A windy Silverstone is one of the best tracks in the world. It's so close. Either of them making a small mistake could result in them losing the pole position."

Hamilton, though, didn’t make any mistakes on his final qualifying lap, as he went all out to take pole.

A time of 1:32:248 was too good for Rosberg, who came in one-tenth off the pace. Williams dup Felipe Massa and Q2 leader Valtteri Bottas made up the top four, with the Ferrai team just behind.

Sky Sports F1 revealed the 2015 British Grand Prix line-up:

Another Mercedes front row ahead of both Williams and Ferrari: http://t.co/D2MzaylAm1 #BritishGP pic.twitter.com/HMS2GhkZfF

— Sky Sports F1 (@SkySportsF1) July 4, 2015

Another disastrous qualifying for McLaren who were out in Q1. More here: http://t.co/D2MzaylAm1 #BritishGP pic.twitter.com/wY7vMzG7gg

— Sky Sports F1 (@SkySportsF1) July 4, 2015

Hamilton was roared round the Silverstone track in front of his home fans, and following the race, he praised a “special” day’s work—via Sky Sports:

It's a special day, it's special to get pole on your home turf. The fans really do motivate me. It's not been the smoothest weekend in terms of getting a balance and we made changes that were perhaps not spectacular for qualy but which should hopefully be good for the race. When it came to Q3 l was just really happy l could go all out for that lap and I'm incredibly happy.

This pole makes it eight from a possible nine this season, and such form is echoing his dominance of the sport right now.

Spurred on by thousands of fans on Sunday, it would be a huge surprise if Hamilton didn’t cross the line first and extend his lead at the top of the driver standings.

Lewis Hamilton finally found his form at Silverstone on Saturday morning, as he recovered from his Friday woes to set the fastest lap time in the third practice session.

The Englishman pipped Mercedes teammate Nico Rosberg—who dominated the first two practice sessions on Friday—by 0.552 seconds to perfectly set up Saturday afternoon’s qualifying.

Ferrari duo Kimi Raikkonen and Sebastian Vettel came home in third and fourth, while Fernando Alonso could only muster six laps before a hydraulic leak caused him to retire. Sky Sports F1 revealed the FP3 times via Twitter:

Lewis Hamilton goes quickest in the final practice session before qualifying for the #BritishGP. pic.twitter.com/Vciqpxar3b

— Sky Sports F1 (@SkySportsF1) July 4, 2015

Hamilton struggled with the balance of his car on Friday, but tweaks by Mercedes brought the world champion back to his normal, brilliant self.

On the hard tyres, he set the bar immediately, with Rosberg 0.398 seconds back and looking like once again spending the day in his teammates wake.

Hamilton then kicked on into top gear on the medium tyres—which will be used for qualifying—posting his 1:32:917.

His German rival had to endure a gearbox oil leak, and although that may have put him off, his car was virtually unaffected. It was the struggles in the first and final sectors of Silverstone that cost him, as he lost 0.2 seconds on Hamilton in both parts.

Ferrari were comfortably second although never looking like toppling Hamilton, who needs to stick to his guns on Saturday afternoon.

Rosberg will still be feeling confident of taking pole position, though, and that keeps things incredibly interesting.

Ferrari put on a display of power and pace, as Nico Rosberg continued to prove himself as the man to beat at the British Grand Prix, going fastest in P2. 

Rosberg once again displayed his initial speed that saw him quickest in P1, posting 1:34.155—with his car set up with a touch of understeer on medium tires—to suit track conditions. 

The Ferrari's of Kimi Raikkonen and Sebastian Vettel proved they will be in contention once again, showing excellent form, as the Italian constructor has demonstrated on Friday practices through the season. Raikkonen and Vettel recorded times just over three-tenths slower than leader Rosberg.

Championship leader Lewis Hamilton could only go fourth fastest, almost half-a-second slower than his Mercedes team-mate. 

Hamilton pitted early and disappeared from the garage as his team worked on his race setup. However, he returned for the end of practice to take the track. 

Roberto Merhi beached his car in the gravel during his practice session, seeing the red flag produced to halt proceedings for four minutes. But there were no significant movement in lap times after, with Rosberg clearly getting the most from his Silver Arrows machine. 

It was a contrasting day for the Merc drivers, with Hamilton clearly not happy with his car. Rosberg looks more ready for qualifying than the reigning world champion, with Hamilton desperate to impress at his home grand prix.  

Nico Rosberg showcased some searing pace on Friday, as he was the quickest man in first practice at a sun-drenched Silverstone. But it wasn’t all plain sailing for the Mercedes man or his team-mate Lewis Hamilton, who was second quickest ahead of the impressive teenager Max Verstappen.

The Brit got himself into a major mess on the exit of the Stowe corner, spinning out into the middle of the track early on. Then, just minutes later, Nico had to temporarily retire his car from the session after problems with hydraulic pressure. But he returned late on to trump his team-mate at the summit of the leaderboard.

The Mercedes team confirmed that Rosberg will not pick up a grid penalty despite having a new gearbox installed.

Toro Rosso were the team who did their best to capitalise on these woes, as impressive performances from both Verstappen and Carlos Sainz put them third and fifth, respectively, in the standings come the session’s climax.

Naturally, the team were pretty pleased with the performance of 17-year-old Verstappen, who has been making sensational strides during his maiden campaign in Formula 1, and indicated as much on their Twitter account.

After more problems gripped the team in Austria, all eyes were on McLaren to see if either Jenson Button or Fernando Alonso could get some laps under their belts.

Sadly for the former, his car was in pieces for most of the session, although he did manage to set the 18th-quickest time late on; the Spaniard was able to get out for a few laps in FP1, finishing in 17th.

In what was a pretty eventful session, there were a few fresh faces on show for a trio of teams. Susie Wolff was in the Williams, Raffaele Marciello got a run out for Sauber, while Jolyon Palmer got a chance to drive around his home circuit in the Lotus.

The latter was because Romain Grosjean decided to sit the session out, but he was enjoying the action and the support of the British fans from afar, as noted on his Twitter account.

With Rosberg out early doors, as soon as Lewis hooked it up for a lap he naturally went quickest. But the German served a timely reminder of his talent to re-emerge and take top spot.

After an untidy weekend in Austria, that early spin was a sign that Hamilton isn’t quite at the peak of his powers coming into the Silverstone showpiece, and the manner in which Rosberg stole top spot so late will be a worry. But with two sessions remaining until race qualifying begins, Lewis has plenty of time to alter the course of his weekend.

Here are the results of FP1 courtesy of BBC Sport: