In front of his home crowd, George Russell secured pole position for the British Grand Prix. The Mercedes driver clocked the fastest time in an exhilarating qualifying session. Under challenging conditions, Max Verstappen, last year’s winner at Silverstone, had to settle for fourth place.
Behind Russell, his teammate Lewis Hamilton and Lando Norris completed the British celebration at Silverstone. Russell won the Austrian Grand Prix just last week, thanks in part to the much-discussed crash between Verstappen and Norris in the final stages of that race.
Q1: Sergio Pérez Makes Another Mistake
The qualifying session at Silverstone began on a drying track, after a significant part of the day had seen heavy rain. Under a threatening cloud cover – with new rain on the way – Max Verstappen clocked the fastest time of the field in his first quick run – on intermediates – just ahead of Lando Norris. It is expected that the two will once again cross swords in Sunday’s race.
With just over seven minutes left on the clock in Q1, Sergio Pérez, of all people, caused a red flag situation. The Mexican teammate of Max Verstappen slid his RB20 into the gravel trap, almost immediately after swapping his intermediates for softs. The car had to be towed away, marking – not for the first time this season – an early end to Pérez’s qualifying session. With a red face, Pérez retreated to the Red Bull garage. This was not a first for him either.
Resumption of the Session: All Drivers Opt for Softs
Upon resumption of the session, all drivers opt for softs. Everyone immediately heads out as it starts to rain lightly, as predicted. This creates tricky conditions, with even Verstappen making a significant detour through the gravel. He manages to get out on his own, fortunately without any consequences so far.
At the end of Q1, Hamilton tops the time list (1.29,547 UST). The dropouts are Valtteri Bottas, Kevin Magnussen, Esteban Ocon, Sergio Pérez, and Pierre Gasly.
Q2: Verstappen Escapes, Leclerc Drops Out
In Q2 of the qualifying session, there’s a rush to get out due to the risk of worsening conditions. It remains dry for now. With a few minutes left on the clock, Oscar Piastri is the fastest (1.26,945 UST), followed by Carlos Sainz, Fernando Alonso, and Max Verstappen. The three-time world champion follows but fails to dictate the pace. Possibly, his detour through the gravel in Q1 has resulted in floor damage.
In the final phase, Nico Hülkenberg makes his presence felt by diving under Piastri’s time in his Haas. It signals Red Bull to send Verstappen out for a quick lap. He manages to secure a safe position (sixth time), but the margin with Lando Norris is significant, precisely 0.237 seconds. Norris records the fastest time in Q2 (1.26,559 UST). Notably, Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc is eliminated prematurely.
The dropouts in Q2 are: Charles Leclerc, Logan Sargeant, Yuki Tsunoda, Guanyu Zhou, and Daniel Ricciardo.
Q3: British Celebration Thanks to Russell, Hamilton, and Norris
The sun is shining again as the drivers head out for the last ten minutes of the qualifying session. Max Verstappen drives to his potential in his first quick lap (1.26,350 UST), but George Russell, Lando Norris, Lewis Hamilton, and Oscar Piastri immediately surpass him, much to the delight of the British fans. Russell, with his 1.26,024, is only 0.006 faster than Norris.
In his second quick run in Q3, Verstappen has a minor moment, which keeps his ninth pole of the season out of reach. He will start from P4 tomorrow.