Callum Ilott got the 2017 FIA European Formula 3 Championship season underway with the best time in both free practice sessions at Silverstone on Thursday.
The Prema Powerteam driver set a best time of 1:50.881s in the first session before improving to a 1:50.483s in the second session, leading a British driver 1-2 in both ahead of Carlin’s Lando Norris.
Just 0.138 seconds separated the two in the first session, while the gap closed to just 0.062 seconds in the second, again to the advantage of Ilott.
Ilott’s Prema team-mate Maximilian Günther was third fastest in the opening session ahead of the returning Jake Dennis, who is racing this weekend for Carlin, while Nikita Mazepin was fifth fastest for Hitech Grand Prix.
Guan Yu Zhou made it three Prema Powerteam drivers inside the top six ahead of the leading Van Amersfoort Racing entry of Harrison Newey, who finished just ahead of his new team-mate Joey Mawson.
Mick Schumacher ensured all four Prema drivers placed inside the top ten, finishing ninth, albeit 0.901 seconds down on Ilott, while Joel Eriksson completed the top ten for Motopark.
Jehan Daruvala was the best of the rest behind the British duo up front in the second session, with the Indian driver just ahead of Carlin team-mate Dennis, while Günther and Zhou were fifth and sixth.
Ferdinand Habsburg made it four Carlin cars inside the top seven ahead of Mazepin, Schumacher and Pedro Piquet, who completed the top ten for Van Amersfoort Racing.
Silverstone Free Practice 1 Result
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Silverstone Free Practice 2 Result
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