McLaren driver Lando Norris of Britain arrives at the Silverstone racetrack, ahead of the British Formula One Grand Prix, in Silverstone, England, Thursday, July 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Darko Bandic)

SILVERSTONE, England (AP) — Expectations are high for Lando Norris to deliver a breakthrough victory at his home British Grand Prix. Nowhere more so than in the Landostand.

Fans in McLaren orange and the luminous yellow of Norris' helmet gathered for Formula 1 Friday practice at the new Landostand — actually a series of stands — around the outside of one of Silverstone's most famous corners, the sweeping, lightning fast Stowe.

Much like the banks of Dutch fans who support Max Verstappen at races around Europe, the dedicated stand is a sign of Norris' newfound status in F1 and the strength of his support as he battles teammate and standings leader Oscar Piastri.

Hamilton leads Norris in Friday practice

There was a British driver at the top of the time charts in Friday's first practice session, but it wasn't Norris.

Lewis Hamilton led the way with the fastest time, 0.023 of a second ahead of Norris. Piastri was .150 further back in third and Charles Leclerc was fourth in the second Ferrari. Defending champion Max Verstappen was 10th for Red Bull.

While practice times often don't reflect teams' true pace, the session was an encouraging sign for Ferrari, whose cars showed progress with third and fourth in Austria last week.

Gabriel Bortoleto rescued his Sauber from a spectacular 720-degree spin, while two young drivers used the session to gain experience. Seventeen-year-old Arvid Lindblad was 14th in Yuki Tsunoda's Red Bull and 21-year-old Paul Aron was 17th in Nico Hülkenberg's Sauber.

A sign of status

Norris the driver has emerged as a genuine title contender over the last 12 months, and Norris the brand has grown too.

Norris has spoken in the past about the effort he makes to block out distractions and criticism, but says the Landostand, where he's visiting fans throughout the weekend, is a “positive distraction” ahead of Sunday's race.

Norris has yet to win at Silverstone in seven attempts in F1 — his best finish was second in 2023 — and said Thursday that he'd swap all his other victories, even his prized Monaco win in May, for first place at the British Grand Prix.

“It’ll be the one that probably puts the biggest smile on my face, bigger than Monaco, and it’s the one that since I was a kid and since I first started watching Formula 1 that I’ve wanted to win the most,” Norris said.

Norris got the better of Piastri in a race-long battle for the win at last week's Austrian Grand Prix. He also won Piastri's home race at the Australian Grand Prix at the start of the year, but Piastri said he doesn't get any extra motivation to beat Norris in front of the British crowd.

“The crowd’s always been actually quite nice to me, which has been nice, but I’m not really concerned about that. I’m more focused on trying to get another win on the board,” he said Thursday.

Hamilton's hopes

More than ever, the F1 title race seems to be an all-McLaren affair. Max Verstappen of Red Bull is coming off a first-lap retirement in Austria last week and has been fending off questions about a potential move to Mercedes.

Hamilton has a record nine victories at the British Grand Prix, but a 10th seems a long way off as he endures a difficult first season with Ferrari, despite his pace in Friday practice. He's yet to finish on the podium in a Grand Prix race this season.

“There’s always magic here at Silverstone, and so I really have to hope for that,” Hamilton said Thursday. “I’m hoping that weather, all sorts of things, can help us because we are obviously naturally not as quick as the McLarens and if it stays dry, then they will walk the race.”

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