There was some fighting talk from Sebastian Vettel as Ferrari topped their first Friday practice session of the season at Silverstone.

Vettel, who comes into the British Grand Prix weekend as World Championship leader again, was quickest in FP2 with a 1:27.552 set on soft tyres.

Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton, initially quickest in FP1, narrowed the gap to Vettel to 0.187 seconds in the afternoon session, while Valtteri Bottas was three tenths down in P3.

Ferrari are usually slow starters on Friday with their engine turned all the way down, but Vettel is hoping that he has now set the foundation for the Scuderia to end Mercedes’ dominance at Silverstone.