Red Bull are seeking their first win in the race since Mark Webber's victory in 2012, and Verstappen gave them the perfect start to the weekend by posting a best time of 1:28.600.

Despite complaining of a lack of grip at various times, Verstappen was the only driver able to dip below 1:29, with Perez's second flying effort on the soft tyres getting him up to second, but still 0.448s off his team-mate's final benchmark.

"That car is once again working superbly around this circuit but Max will look at that lap and think he has even more, which is slightly ominous for the opposition," said Sky Sports F1's Karun Chandhok of Verstappen's best effort.

Alex Albon was a surprising third for Williams as the London-born Thai driver continued his impressive form for the team, who are beginning their 800th GP celebrations this weekend.

"Alex was on all the right parts of the track at the right time there," said Sky Sports F1's Martin Brundle.

"Alex Albon went through the Red Bull-Max Verstappen mangle and came out the other side in not very good shape.

"Quite clearly Williams believe in him and honestly sport at the highest level, a lot of it is in the head and if you feel the team is really behind you it just gets something extra out of you."

Albon was the lead driver with British connections, with Lando Norris eighth in the upgraded McLaren, while Lewis Hamilton and George Russell were 12th and 14th respectively in the updated Mercedes.

However, the two Mercedes drivers were the only ones not to run the soft compound tyre in the session as they focused on data collection after introducing a new front wing for the W14 this weekend.

But both Mercedes drivers had complaints on the radio, with Hamilton reporting a lot of bouncing and Russell saying the car "felt all over the place" in the closing stages.

Fernando Alonso was fourth for Aston Martin at their home Grand Prix, six tenths of a second off Verstappen's best time.

Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz were fifth and seventh for Ferrari, with Esteban Ocon slotting his Alpine between the two red cars.

Leclerc had led the way earlier in the session after being among the first drivers to put on the soft tyres. The Monegasque, second last time out in Austria, warned ahead of the weekend that Silverstone's high-speed nature may expose the weaknesses of Ferrari's car as they continue to seek improved consistency on the SF23.

Lance Stroll and Oscar Piastri rounded out the top 10, while Nyck de Vries recovered from an early spin to be 11th for AlphaTauri.