Valtteri Bottas pips Lewis Hamilton to top British GP first practice

Silverstone: Formula One champions Mercedes made a statement of intent in British Grand Prix practice on Friday with Valtteri Bottas leading home favourite Lewis Hamilton at the top of the timesheets as Ferrari were left far behind.

The Finn, keeping up the momentum after winning in Austria, was nearly half a second faster than his closest non-Mercedes rival with the 2017 Formula One cars looking significantly quicker and the champions in ominous form.

Red Bull`s Dutch teenager Max Verstappen, who has had five retirements in the last seven races, and Australian Daniel Ricciardo were third and fourth respectively at an overcast Silverstone.

"Mercedes look really strong but we look to be in the fight with Ferrari. At the moment we`re battling Ferrari and not Mercedes," commented Ricciardo, who has been on podium for five races in a row.

Hamilton, who will be chasing his fifth British Grand Prix victory and fourth in a row on Sunday, was 0.078 off his team mate`s best time of one minute 29.106 seconds.

Bottas`s time was quicker than Hamilton`s 2016 pole position of 1:29.287. Ferrari`s world championship leader Sebastian Vettel, who is 20 points clear of the Briton after nine of 20 races, was sixth quickest and behind team mate Kimi Raikkonen -- who was more than a second slower than Bottas.