Photo: Sam Bloxham/GP2 Series Media Service
Racing Engineering continued their strong form in GP2 into the Silverstone weekend as Raffaele Marciello and Stefano Coletti locked out the top two positions in free practice.
Marciello, who claimed two podium finishes a fortnight ago in Austria, moved ahead around 15 minutes into the 45-minute session, managing a best time of 1m41.127s.
Coletti, who claimed a second and a fourth in Spielberg, was 0.134s behind.
Despite only completing eight laps compared to the 16 of Marciello, Alexander Rossi set the third best time for Caterham, only 13 thousandths slower than Coletti.
Championship leader Jolyon Palmer was fourth, although the British driver appeared to struggle with his DAMS car during the session, having one notable moment when he went off track at Abbey.
Spielberg winners Johnny Cecotto and Felipe Nasr were fifth and sixth respectively, ahead of Palmer’s team-mate Stephane Richelmi. Over half a second down in eighth was Stoffel Vandoorne, while Daniel De Jong had a strong showing to beat Mitch Evans to ninth.
Session results
| Pos | Driver? | Team | Time? | Gap? | Laps? |
| 1 | Raffaele Marciello | Racing Engineering | 1:41.127 | 16 | |
| 2 | Stefano Coletti | Racing Engineering | 1:41.261 | 0.134 | 14 |
| 3 | Alexander Rossi | EQ8 Caterham Racing | 1:41.274 | 0.147 | 8 |
| 4 | Jolyon Palmer | DAMS | 1:41.404 | 0.277 | 17 |
| 5 | Johnny Cecotto | Trident | 1:41.448 | 0.321 | 19 |
| 6 | Felipe Nasr | Carlin | 1:41.453 | 0.326 | 16 |
| 7 | Stephane Richelmi | DAMS | 1:41.480 | 0.353 | 17 |
| 8 | Stoffel Vandoorne | ART Grand Prix | 1:41.668 | 0.541 | 18 |
| 9 | Daniel de Jong | MP Motorsport | 1:41.729 | 0.602 | 18 |
| 10 | Mitch Evans | Russian Time | 1:41.737 | 0.610 | 19 |
| 11 | Julian Leal | Carlin | 1:41.747 | 0.620 | 18 |
| 12 | Sergio Canamasas | Trident | 1:41.892 | 0.765 | 18 |
| 13 | Rio Haryanto | EQ8 Caterham Racing | 1:41.896 | 0.769 | 16 |
| 14 | Simon Trummer | Rapax | 1:42.041 | 0.914 | 18 |
| 15 | Conor Daly | Venezuela GP Lazarus | 1:42.145 | 1.018 | 16 |
| 16 | Daniel Abt | Hilmer Motorsport | 1:42.151 | 1.024 | 20 |
| 17 | Andre Negrao | Arden International | 1:42.153 | 1.026 | 15 |
| 18 | Nathanael Berthon | Venezuela GP Lazarus | 1:42.161 | 1.034 | 17 |
| 19 | Marco Sorensen | MP Motorsport | 1:42.209 | 1.082 | 17 |
| 20 | Adrian Quaife-Hobbs | Rapax | 1:42.299 | 1.172 | 18 |
| 21 | Arthur Pic | Campos Racing | 1:42.474 | 1.347 | 17 |
| 22 | Artem Markelov | Russian Time | 1:42.675 | 1.548 | 18 |
| 23 | Kimiya Sato | Campos Racing | 1:42.826 | 1.699 | 18 |
| 24 | Takuya Izawa | ART Grand Prix | 1:42.941 | 1.814 | 19 |
| 25 | Jon Lancaster | Hilmer Motorsport | 1:43.180 | 2.053 | 19 |
| 26 | Rene Binder | Arden International | 1:43.316 | 2.189 | 16 |