McLaren drivers warn “very quick” Ferrari will be a threat in British F1 GP

McLaren drivers Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri expect Ferrari to be a serious contender in this weekend’s British Grand Prix following the opening day of running at Silverstone.

Although Norris ended Friday F1 practice on top with a fastest time of 1m25.816s, Ferrari duo Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton managed to split the two McLarens as Piastri ended up fourth.

Hamilton also topped the first practice session earlier in the day, suggesting the SF-25 was quickly up to pace at the 5.89km venue.

While Norris was happy with his pace as he finished two tenths clear of his nearest rival, he singled out Ferrari as one to watch out for in qualifying.

“The soft [tyre run] was a very strong lap,” he told Sky TV. “But me being me and also in general, the Ferraris have been very, very quick today and they shall be tomorrow.

“So I think we've got a bit of work to do, to be honest. It looks maybe a bit too good today.

“Like always, Ferrari always catch up into FP3, like they did last weekend. I say [I am] pleased with today, but  nothing to be too proud about just yet.”

Piastri couldn’t put together a clean lap in the final part of FP2, which meant he finished the day almost half a second off the pace in fourth place.

Summing up his outing in practice, the Australian said: “In FP2, the soft tyre was a little bit messy for me, but the potential is definitely there and the long runs looked pretty solid as well. An interesting first day and a lot of competition.”

Like Norris, Piastri was also wary of Ferrari’s speed on Friday and believes McLaren could have a genuine rival at Silverstone on Sunday.

“It was a bit of a surprise,” he said. They looked good, both in the qualifying runs and the longer runs as well, so I think they're in the fight this weekend, which is interesting to see.”