BBC Sport's Harry Benjamin picks his five things to look out for at the British Grand Prix at Silverstone this weekend.

Image source, Getty Images

Ferrari have topped two out of the three practice sessions at Silverstone and are making rival's heads turns, a week on from their significant floor upgrade in Austria last time out.

McLaren CEO Zak Brown was chatting to Sky Sports on the pit wall and he had this to say about the Italian team: "The Ferraris look very quick; quick over one lap, they look very good over the long runs. Obviously, they were very strong and our number one competitor in Austria.

"So, don't rule out Max [Verstappen] or the two Mercedes, but the two Ferraris are the ones that have our eyebrows raised at the moment."

George Russell put himself in the best place to win his maiden British Grand Prix last year but the polesitter's home race turned sour when he had to reitre the car after 33 laps.

The warmer conditions in Austria didn't suit the heat-sensitive Mercedes, so Russell's Canadian victory was followed up with a fifth place in qualifying and last Sunday's race. The temperature is cooler at Silverstone, and the Briton will be looking to put contract talks and whispers of Max Verstappen taking his seat to the back of his mind as he goes for his second consecutive home pole.

Image source, Getty Images

The meat and potatoes of the session was Ferrari's pace in the hands of Charles Leclerc. The Monegasque driver was quickest ahead of the McLaren of Oscar Piastri and Dutchman Max Verstappen, who threw his Red Bull round the famous British track to signal he's not out of this pole fight just yet.

However, Lewis Hamilton was hindered by the red flag shown for the broken bodywork of Bearman's Haas, so what the seven-time world championship has to offer over one lap of Saturday pace is still unkown. Hamilton has looked good on home soil so far, though, so a first main pole of the season - and for the Italian team - could be an outside bet.

Lando Norris ended his final practice hour fourth on the timesheets, about a tenth away from Leclerc's marker.

McLaren driver Lando Norris talks to BBC Sport's Natalie Pirks about his favourite memories from the British Grand Prix at Silverstone.

Fellow rookie Kimi Antonelli is also moving down the order from his Saturday grid slot tomorrow. The Italian teenager was given a three-place grid penalty for the British Grand Prix for causing the opening-lap collision with Max Verstappen in Austria.

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

Gabriel Bortoleto was beached in the gravel when the TV cameras picked him up but the Brazilian was quite far back from the barriers for the damage to his car to be direct contact. The replays showed he had lost control through the rapid Maggotts-Becketts section of the track, sending him bouncing onto the grass and breaking his front suspension.

Image source, Getty Images

It was a bizarre conclusion to third practice at Silverstone, with broken cars and red flags bringing the session to an early end.

For Oliver Bearman, debris off his car brought out the first red flag. When the second red flag was shown for Gabriel Bortoleto's shunt, the British rookie crashed coming into the pit lane - he said his brakes were cold - and he hit the barriers, causing damage to his front wing.

The stewards noted the incident and have handed Bearman a 10-place grid penalty for tomorrow's race - his first at home - and four penalty points on his licence for failing to follow red -lag regulations.

Bearman jumps from four penalty points to eight on his licence - one behind Max Verstappen, who is on nine. Two of Bearman's points expire on 2 November, just before the race weekend in Brazil.

Lorraine McKenna
BBC Sport Journalist

Image source, Getty Images

Hello, all. Drivers have got one shot at Silverstone on a Saturday to claim the coveted pole position prize for tomorrow’s British Grand Prix and the times couldn't be tighter between the top runners.

Qualifying gets under way at 15:00 BST.

Last year fans were treated to an all-British top three, with George Russell on pole and ex-Mercedes team-mate Lewis Hamilton – the eventual winner – starting alongside him on the front row.

Lando Norris, third 12 months ago, is one of the favourites to triumph in the shootout today. Can the Briton secure back-to-back poles for the first time this season in front of the home crowd?

First, Oliver Bearman has been waiting to find out what punishment he'll receive for a red flag infringement at the end of final practice. It's a biggie for the home rookie...

Andrew Benson
BBC F1 correspondent at Silverstone

Image source, PA Media

Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc topped an intensely competitive final practice session at the British Grand Prix from McLaren’s Oscar Piastri.

Just 0.087 seconds covered the top three drivers as Leclerc pipped Piastri by 0.068secs and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen was just 0.019secs further behind.

McLaren’s Lando Norris was fourth fastest, 0.108secs off the pace at Silverstone.

Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton looked poised to jump into the top four, too, with his final lap but a red flag because of some broken bodywork on track meant he had to abort.

In an incident-packed end to the session, Sauber’s Gabriel Bortoleto lost control in the high-speed Becketts complex, spinning and breaking his left-front suspension as he bounced across the grass, and Oliver Bearman crashed his Haas coming into the pits when his brakes locked and he speared into the barriers.

Bortoleto’s spin happened shortly after the session had been restarted following a brief stoppage to remove some carbon-fibre debris that had come off Bearman’s Haas.

And in the frantic final minutes, a final push lap by Mercedes’ George Russell ended when he locked up and ran wide at the third corner, Village.

Russell ended up eighth fastest, behind Red Bull’s Yuki Tsunoda in fifth, Bearman and Alex Albon’s Williams.

Right folks, time to go and get some lunch.

Charles Leclerc was the third different driver to go fastest at Silverstone this weekend. He joins Lando Norris and Lewis Hamilton who were the fastest drivers on Friday.

Sauber and Haas will have to get to work to fix Gabriel Bortoleto and Ollie Bearman's cars in time for qualifying.

Bearman's crash has been noted by race control as a red-flag infringement - we will update you with the outcome when it comes.

Many drivers didn't get the opportunity to set fast laps and the gap between the top four is very small. It'll be an interesting qualifying session.

Who will get pole in qualifying? We will find out when lights go green at 15:00 BST

Join us for the build-up to quali from 14:30 BST.

Catch you then!

11. Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari)

12. Carlos Sainz (Williams)

13. Esteban Ocon (Haas)

14. Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes)

15. Nico Hulkenberg (Sauber)

16. Gabriel Bortoleto (Sauber)

17. Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin)

18. Franco Colapinto (Alpine)

19. Lance Stroll (Aston Martin)

20. Pierre Gasly (Alpine)

Damon Hill
1996 world champion on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra at Silverstone

You’re encouraged to practise coming into a pit lane hot and getting the speed down quickly and you heard him saying the brakes were cold.

It is another one of those things you add to the experience box as a driver.

1. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) 1:25.498

2. Oscar Piastri (McLaren) +0.068

3. Max Verstappen (Red Bull) +0.087

4. Lando Norris (McLaren) +0.108

5. Yuki Tsunoda (Red Bull) +0.606

6. Ollie Bearman (Haas) +0.614

7. Alex Albon (Williams) +0.621

8. George Russell (Mercedes) +0.627

9. Iasck Hadjar (Racing Bulls) +0.631

10. Liam Lawson (Racing Bulls) +0.758

Image source, Getty Images

With Formula 1 celebrating its 75th anniversary this year, and the 2025 season arriving at Silverstone this week, BBC Sport is looking to answer the question: What is the most memorable British Grand Prix?

Cast your vote here

"My brakes were cold! ****. Sorry."

Ollie Bearman lost a big chunk of his front wing. He was heading into the pits when he locked up and hit the barriers.

Work for the Haas team too over lunch time.

"I'm OK but the suspension is broken."

This wasn't the end to the session anyone wanted.

Especially the Sauber engineers, who will have to get the car fixed before qualifying.