Not a drop of rain in sight for sprint qualifying this afternoon as the sun continues to shine at Silverstone. The breeze has picked up, though.

On the tyre front, the hardest compounds in the Pirelli range have been selected for the British Grand Prix, with the C1 as the hard, C2 as the medium and C3 as the red-banded soft tyre.

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The world's most famous music festival is having a rest this year but that's OK, because the British Grand Prix is the next best thing.

"You see everybody camping here, staying up late, listening to the concerts, and this feels Silverstone now feels like a mini Glastonbury," George Russell told BBC Sport.

"It's like a festival with an F1 race, and they've done an amazing job. I kind of feel gutted that I can't experience Silverstone as a fan, because it looks so, so good, but you know, they love racing and they love to have a good time as well.

"I think, for every driver in F1, even the non-Brits, they love Silverstone. There's something so pure about it."

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Andrew Benson
BBC F1 correspondent at Silverstone

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The British Grand Prix track is renowned as one of most demanding for drivers because of its sequence of challenging high-speed corners.

But the lack of braking points means the cars will be energy starved this year, so will be running with not much more than half the engines' full power at key points of the track.

Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton said the cars will be recovering energy through Copse and Becketts, the two most challenging high-speed corners.

Because batteries will run out before the end of some high-speed sections, the cars will be running with only the power from their internal combustion engines.

The engines this year have a near 50-50 split between internal combustion and electrical power, with 350kW (470bhp) from electricity and a little over 400kW from the engine.

Hamilton said: "If you look at the speed traces, we start losing deployment going into Copse. Normally the engine is screaming going into there and you are holding on for dear life. This year most likely we will be downshifting from seventh to sixth to keep the revs higher. It will be a long straight from Nine (Copse) and (to) 10 (Maggotts) with no deployment.

"Maggots and Becketts will not feel the same, because you have to lift and coast through there for a period of time."

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Before Lewis Hamilton took his place on the top step of the podium in Barcelona, Lando Norris' sprint victory at the Miami Grand Prix in May was the only non-Mercedes win of the campaign.

The world champion converted pole position into a dominant win in the second sprint of the season in the United States, controlling the race from the first corner and taking home the full eight points.

Following on from Miami was Canada's debut at hosting a sprint race. George Russell claimed pole this time and while he did take victory the following day, he had to battle hard for it with team-mate Kimi Antonelli.

The Mercedes pair collided in one incident and Italian Antonelli ran off track in another as they fought for the lead of the race in the early laps.

Russell also triumphed in the opening sprint from pole in China in March.

If you're just dipping your toe into the F1 pool this weekend and wondering what on earth a sprint race is, here is how the next two session will pan out.

Sprint qualifying has three sessions, where now the six slowest cars are knocked out from the first two - like normal qualifying.

These sessions, known as SQ1, SQ2 and SQ3, last 12, 10 and eight minutes respectively.

This will make up the grid for the sprint race, which takes place as the first track action on Saturday.

Silverstone's shorter dash is 17 laps long.

Only the top eight finishers score points, with eight points awarded for first place down to one point for eighth, which will get added to the overall drivers' championship standings.

The crowds will obviously be willing a British driver to claim pole position in this afternoon's sprint qualifying session but who do you think will be quick enough to claim the front row spot for Saturday’s shorter race?

Lewis Hamilton topped opening practice a few hours ago but can that pace be transferred to a first sprint pole of the season?

Max Verstappen took a main pole position here last year for Red Bull, so can the Dutchman maybe add his name to the mix in SQ3? His record in these shorter races is mightily impressive - 13 wins in total, including the inaugural event at Silverstone five years ago.

Or will it be another Mercedes team-mate showdown between Kimi Antonelli and George Russell?

Let us know what you think.

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So what was Lewis Hamilton's advantage in first practice? Are Ferrari really in the mix for the two wins on offer in round nine? The Italian team brought a big upgrade to the Austrian Grand Prix last time out but the weekend was underwhelming in the end after the high of Barcelona.

The seven-time world champion clocked a time 0.213 seconds quicker than title leader Kimi Antonelli, who sits 40 points clear of Mercedes team-mate George Russell in the drivers' championship.

The rest of the top five of Charles Leclerc, George Rusell and McLaren's Oscar Piastri, who spun off track during first practice, were more than five, six and eight tenths off Hamilton’s pace-setting time.

Last year's winner and reigning world champion Lando Norris had a difficult session because of a deleted lap time for track limits and another attempt aborted, so he ended his session down in seventh place, 1.028 seconds adrift of fellow Brit Hamilton.

Lorraine McKenna
BBC Sport Journalist

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Hello again, folks. This weekend at the British Grand Prix is the fourth sprint event of the campaign, so from now until the chequered flag on Sunday, it's competitive action all the way.

First practice earlier on gave us Lewis Hamilton at the top of the timesheets, heading championship leader Kimi Antonelli and the second Ferrari of Chares Leclerc.

Seven-time world champion Hamilton, in front of a packed home crowd, is aiming to secure a record-extending 10th victory at Silverstone this weekend, to add to this first win for Ferrari at the Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix last month.

Andrew Benson
BBC F1 correspondent at Silverstone

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Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton led the way in practice at the British Grand Prix before sprint qualifying later on Friday.

The seven-time champion was 0.213 seconds quicker than championship leader Kimi Antonelli, with the second Ferrari of Charles Leclerc also heading the Italian's Mercedes team-mate George Russell, winner in Austria last weekend.

McLaren's Oscar Piastri was fifth fastest, but 0.887secs off the pace, despite a spin at Becketts midway through the session.

Red Bull's Max Verstappen was sixth fastest, 0.980secs behind Hamilton and clearly struggling for grip, ahead of the second McLaren of Lando Norris and Red Bull's Isack Hadjar.

Read the full report here

Are the stars aligning for a famous Lewis Hamilton victory at the British Grand Prix? Possibly. But that was only first (and only) practice, so we'll pump the excitement brakes just for now.

The compeitive action is full throttle now, with sprint qualifying, which sets the grid for tomorrow's shorter race, up next. Go and take a break and then come back and join us for build-up at 16:00 BST.

British rookie Arvid Lindblad was on the Racing Bulls radio late in the session to something didn't sound "super-nice on the rear" of the car, adding maybe the engine needs a once over. Sprint qualifying gets under way at 16:30 BST, so there is time for his crew to take a look before SQ1 goes green.

11. Franco Colapinto (Alpine)

12. Gabriel Bortoleto (Audi)

13. Arvid Lindblad (Racing Bulls)

14. Oliver Bearman (Haas)

15. Carlos Sainz (Williams)

16. Esteban Ocon (Haas)

17. Alex Albon (Williams)

18. Valtteri Bottas (Cadillac)

19. Sergio Perez (Cadillac)

20. Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin)

21. Pierre Gasly (Alpine)

22. Lance Stroll. (Aston Martin)

Andrew Benson
BBC F1 correspondent at Silverstone

This is a surprising order, after what Lewis Hamilton said yesterday. Everyone was expecting Mercedes to be further away from Ferrari here. It's only practice but I don't think anyone would have expected Hamilton to be leading by two tenths of a second from a Mercedes.

1. Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari) - 1:29.260

2. Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes) +0.213

3. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) +0.599

4. George Russell (Mercedes) +0.678

5. Oscar Piastri (McLaren) +0.887

6. Max Verstappen (Red Bull) +0.980

7. Lando Norris (McLaren) +1.028

8. Isack Hadjar (Red Bull) +1.078

9. Nico Hulkenberg (Audi) +1.483

10. Liam Lawson (Racing Bulls) +1.590

Lewis Hamilton played down Ferrari's chances for British Grand Prix glory but the nine-time Silverstone winner has certainly surprised the crowds with that lap on the soft tyre. Could he get a 10th victory here? Maybe the 17-lap sprint race will give us a hint tomorrow.

1. Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari) - 1:29.260

2. Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes) +0.213

3. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) +0.599

4. George Russell (Mercedes) +0.678

5. Oscar Piastri (McLaren) +0.887

Charles Leclerc goes third on the board but that now turns to fourth as Ferrari team-mate Lewis Hamilton jumps above leader Kimi Antonelli by two tenths. The seven-time world champion's time is 1:29.260 on the softs.

Max Verstappen completes his soft run and slips between the two McLarens of Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris, more than nine tenths off Hamilton's marker.