Venezuelan fastest in first session Pastor Maldonado has continued where he left off in Valencia by putting himself on top of the timesheets in this morning's free practice session in Silverstone, edging ahead of rivals Giedo van der Garde and Jerome d'Ambrosio.

The Venezuelan set a best time of 1:40.393 at the 12 minute mark, pushing ahead of the Dutchman's then best lap by two tenths with a time that would not be matched for the remainder of the session, with third placed d'Ambrosio the closest challenger with just a few minutes remaining before the chequered flag.

The session opened in warm but breezy conditions, with Giacomo Ricci, Luiz Razia and Jules Bianchi setting the early pace: unfortunately for the Brazilian he appeared to snap left at the chicane and rolled to a halt, with his then quickest lap soon falling back to 12th as the rest of the grid got up to speed.

Van der Garde was the first man to challenge Razia's time, but only managed to hold on to the top spot for about a minute before Maldonado made the position his own: with temperatures increasing for the second half of the session only d'Ambrosio managed to improve his time among the top runners to put himself third, ahead of Sergio Perez, Christian Vietoris, Dani Clos, Davide Valsecchi and Jules Bianchi. With the top twelve drivers covered by just one second, this afternoon's qualifying session looks set to be another classic at the fabled British circuit.

Silverstone – Practice Session Driver Team Time Laps

1. Pastor Maldonado Rapax 1:40.393 15 2. Giedo van der Garde Barwa Addax Team 1:40.588 13 3. Jerome d’Ambrosio Dams 1:40.712 14 4. Sergio Perez Barwa Addax Team 1:40.749 14 5. Christian Vietoris Racing Engineering 1:40.962 14 6. Dani Clos Racing Engineering 1:41.010 11 7. Davide Valsecchi iSport International 1:14.028 14 8. Jules Bianchi ART Grand Prix 1:41.140 15 9. Oliver Turvey iSport International 1:41.141 15 10. Michael Herck DPR 1:41.259 13 11. Sam Bird ART Grand Prix 1:41.390 14 12. Luiz Razia Rapax 1:41.434 4 13. Luca Filippi Super Nova Racing 1:41.712 14 14. Alberto Valerio Scuderia Coloni 1:41.826 14 15. Marcus Ericsson Super Nova Racing 1:42.048 15 16. Fabio Leimer Ocean Racing Technology 1:42.050 8 17. Rodolfo Gonzalez Arden International 1:42.095 14 18. Adrian Zaugg Trident Racing 1:42.233 15 19. Giacomo Ricci DPR 1:42.238 15 20 Max Chilton Ocean Racing Technology 1:42.858 14 21. Ho-Pin Tung Dams 1:42.956 13 22. Johnny Cecotto Trident Racing 1:43.099 14 23. Vladimir Arabadzhiev Scuderia Coloni 1:43.326 16 24. Charles Pic Arden International 1:53.076 3