McLaren still appears the squad to beat this year, but team boss Andrea Stella feels improvements at rivals Ferrari could add more spice to proceedings

McLaren heads into the Formula 1 British Grand Prix cautious of Ferrari’s “impressive” pace, which has shown signs of strength

And the Brit was fastest after today’s free practice sessions in front of his home fans at Silverstone, clocking a 1:25.816 in FP2 from the Ferrari of Charles Leclerc. Another home driver, Lewis Hamilton, had been quickest earlier in the day as he led FP1 for Ferrari with a 1:26.892.

Lando Norris has had a problematic season so far but is doing well to be just 15 points behind team-mate Oscar Piastri, who has had an excellent year by all accounts. Probably, given the advantage McLaren have over the course of the year, we can probably discount Max Verstappen from contention, unless something extraordinary happens.

Ferrari sent McLaren a reminder of their pace in final practice for the British Grand Prix on Saturday with Charles Leclerc fastest.

Lewis Hamilton seemed well on his way to contest pole with Max Verstappen and Oscar Piastri, however, at Vale corner the Briton lost the time he required to take the fight to the championship contenders ultimately finishing in P5.

Hamilton led the way in FP1 before taking third in Friday's second practice session behind Lando Norris and Charles Leclerc, as Ferrari looks to be McLaren's closest rival both in qualifying laps and on long runs.