Charles Leclerc has picked up where he left off in Austria by topping the timesheets in this afternoon’s free practice session in Silverstone, grabbing the position early in the session before chipping away at his own times to lead Oliver Rowland and Luca Ghiotto at the flag.

The Monegasque was competing with himself throughout the session, improving his times continually before finally settling on 1:40.695 two thirds of the way through an uneventful session, which took place on a Thursday for the first time.

The session took place under overcast and cool conditions, with all of the field heading straight onto the circuit to record some times in case the threatened rain arrived. Leclerc set the first competitive time at the 10 minute mark, with Nicholas Latifi and Ghiotto briefly usurping him on the top of the timesheets before the Ferrari Academy driver reverted to the top spot a few minutes later.

Rowland closed the gap to his championship rival at the 30 minute mark but Leclerc ran quicker still a few minutes later and the matter was settled as the grid concentrated on longer run pace. Behind the top 3 Latifi, Artem Markelov, Sergio Canamasas, Jordan King, Nyck De Vries, Norman Nato and Louis Deletraz were all within a second of the top spot and will be hoping for more to come in tomorrow’s qualifying session.

Preliminary Free Practice Classification

1. Charles Leclerc PREMA Racing 1:40.695
2. Oliver Rowland DAMS 1:41.010
3. Luca Ghiotto RUSSIAN TIME 1:41.247
4. Nicholas Latifi DAMS 1:41.283
5. Artem Markelov RUSSIAN TIME 1:41.316
6. Sergio Canamasas Rapax 1:41.328
7. Jordan King MP Motorsport 1:41.329
8. Nyck De Vries Rapax 1:41.359
9. Norman Nato Pertamina Arden 1:41.377
10. Louis Delétraz Racing Engineering 1:41.631
11. Sergio Sette Camara MP Motorsport 1:41.660
12. Gustav Malja Racing Engineering 1:41.742
13. Antonio Fuoco PREMA Racing 1:41.755
14. Nobuharu Matsushita ART Grand Prix 1:41.824
15. Alexander Albon ART Grand Prix 1:41.885
16. Sean Gelael Pertamina Arden 1:42.224
17. Ralph Boschung Campos Racing 1:42.284
18. Callum Ilott Trident 1:42.314
19. Nabil Jeffri Trident 1:42.317
20. Robert Visoiu Campos Racing 1:42.677