Verstappen sets fastest time in practice at British Grand Prix

Red Bull driver Max Verstappen of the Netherlands steers his car during the first practice session for the British Formula One Grand Prix at the Silverstone circuit in Silverstone, England, Friday, July 31, 2020. The British Formula One Grand Prix race will be held on Sunday. (Bryn Lennon/Pool via AP)

SILVERSTONE, England— Max Verstappen set the fastest time in the first practice session for the British Grand Prix on Friday and Ferrari driver Sebastian Vettel sat out most of the session with a car problem.

Verstappen set a time of 1 minute, 27.422 seconds in his Red Bull to finish ahead of championship leader Lewis Hamilton of Mercedes by .474 seconds.

Lance Stroll was a surprise third for Racing Point, ahead of Alexander Albon in the second Red Bull and Charles Leclerc in a Ferrari. Mercedes driver Valtteri Bottas only managed sixth-fastest.

Vettel only completed two laps and didn’t set a time. Ferrari said the team found “something wrong with the intercooler system” of his car and had to examine it.

Nico Hulkenberg was ninth-fastest on his return to F1 with Racing Point following a positive coronavirus test for regular driver Sergio Perez. The German only got the call the day before and was confirmed as the replacement shortly before the session began.