Silverstone, 6th July 2007

The first day of free practice for Sunday's British Grand Prix got underway with the same good form that the Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro drivers showed just five days ago in France. While McLaren- Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton finished just ahead of the Red duo in the morning, this afternoon after a further ninety minutes of practice, Kimi Raikkonen was quickest, the only man to break the 1m 21s barrier, with Felipe Massa second, half a second slower.

Third was Ralf Schumacher for Toyota, followed by the centre of all the local media attention this weekend, Lewis Hamilton. Fifth and sixth went to their respective team- mates, Jarno Trulli and Fernando Alonso. Jenson Button was fifteenth in the morning session, but when it was over the Honda driver complained of back pains, was taken to hospital for checks and treatment, while his place for the afternoon was taken by reserve driver Christian Klien, who ended up eighteenth. A lot of laps for the Scuderia drivers today: 61 for Kimi, 56 for Felipe.

Summer weather has still not put in an appearance here, although it was much drier than yesterday. Tomorrow is supposed to be the best day of the weekend, when qualifying starts at one o'clock local time, to synchronise with the usual start time in Europe.