Written by Maria Fashchevskaya
George Russell sped to pole in a rain-plaqued qualifying around Silverstone for the British Grand Prix. His teammate Lewis Hamilton followed in second, as Lando Norris locked in P3 for an all-British trio in the first three grid places. Max Verstappen slid only to a P4 qualifying finish, as teammate Sergio Perez spun out of qualifying in Q1.
George Russell grabbed pole in Silverstone for the British Grand Prix, as rain worsened the conditions on track throughout qualifying. His teammate Lewis Hamilton followed in second place, as Lando Norris locked in third position for an all-British trio in the first three grid places.
Max Verstappen slid only to a P4 qualifying finish, as McLaren's Oscar Piastri followed in fifth place. A surprise saw Nico Hulkenberg start in P6 in tomorrow's race, while P7 would be occupied by Carlos Sainz. In P8 would start Lance Stroll with Aston Martin, ahead of Williams' Alex Albon and teammate Fernando Alonso.
The weather has been troubling the conditions in Silverstone throughout the day – it has been raining on and off. In the third Free Practice this morning, all drivers chose intermediates, but still found it challenging to find grip around the track. Then the gamble began: Could the on-off conditions with the pouring rain play a part in qualifying? Reports said 60% rain for qualifying...
Q1
As Q1 was started, the sun peaked at Silverstone, but drivers went out on intermediate tyres. The track was still wet, however, Valtteri Bottas reported a dry racing line already forming. Lewis Hamilton was one of the first drivers to knock in a timed lap, alongside teammate George Russell. They finished their first runs around the track with a 1:37.759s and 1:37.800s, respectively.
With 12 minutes to go, Verstappen topped the board, ahead of Norris and Hamilton so far. The Haas drivers were still in the pits, just Magnussen coming out on an out lap. Bottas was the first to dive for slicks in the pits. In the elimination zone so far, Pierre Gasly, Logan Sargeant, Daniel Ricciardo and both Haas drivers. Meanwhile, both Mercedes' usurped Verstappen and topped the timing board.
Regardless of his qualifying, Pierre Gasly would be starting at the back of the grid. He had taken on a fifth internal combustion engine, turbocharger, motor generator unit-heat and motor generator unit-kinetic, breaching the limit of four for the season.
Bottas and Zhou were looking solid so far, as they sat in 15th and 13th positions, however could be knocked out by others. Then the yellow Flag came out – and changed to a red flag now! Sergio Perez spun out on slicks at the Corpse, sealing an end to his qualifying. And Daniel Ricciardo almost joined him, as replays showed. This meant everyone could change tyres in the pits for slicks, as Perez' car was pulled out of the gravel, and the track started to dry out.
As red flags were about to be dropped, a queue in the pit lane ensued. As reported by the McLaren team, there could be rain towards the restart of the session, thus, everyone wanted to go out on track quickly. Then the stewards reported an investigation into Lance Stroll for leaving the pit exit on a red light. In the elimination zone were Bottas, Gasly, Sargeant, Ricciardo, and Hulkenberg at that moment, the latter without a time on board.
With five minutes to go, The Finnish driver knocks in a 1m 32.431s lap to top the board. Nico Hulkenberg soared him, being half a second quicker. Meanwhile, McLaren's topped the board, too. And Verstappen went off at the Corpse, speeding through the gravel! He was on soft tyres, and the rains started pouring. Maybe he even had damage. There came Kevin Magnussen, with the same issue as Max Verstappen.
With one minute to go, everyone wanted to knock in their best time. Finishing his lap, Alex Albon went through, and knocked out Ricciardo in the meantime. Teammate Logan Sargeant followed to bump out Tsunoda and Ocon, temporarily.
Zhou was at risk then but improved, knocking out Magnussen who was in the pits. The Danish driver was out off qualifying. Meanwhile, Gasly was in the pits, too. Then Tsunoda escaped elimination to bump Bottas out of qualifying, as Ocon did not finish his lap and pulled into the pits. Hulkenbberg managed to squeeze through, although being at risk at the end of the session.
Knocked out: Bottas, Magnussen, Ocon, Perez, Gasly.
Q2
Logan Sargeant already triumphed over team radio, coming through to the second part of qualifying. At the start of Q2, drivers queued in the pit lane. The Williams' were the first out on track, both on soft tyres. With eleven minutes to go, Fernando Alonso topped the board with a 1:27.652s. Then Oscar Piastri usurped him, being 0.021s quicker, and Carlos Sainz even a 0.091s quicker.
Zhou and Ricciardo came through to Q2, but seemed to cannot keep up with the pack. Both were sitting in 13th and 14th, temporarily. Both could not improve out of elimination. Meanwhile, Sargeant sped out of elimination, to fifth place, temporarily. Russell did not look quick here, as he cannot keep up with the times of his teammate. And Tsunoda was in the elimination zone, too.
Fernando Alonso had good times in Silverstone, beating everyone regularly to top the board in Q2, again with a 1:27.279s. He is usurped by Carlos Sainz and Oscar Piastri, with five minutes to go. Nico Hulkenberg sat in 10th, at risk, as he pushed out a 1:26.847s and topped the leaderboard. Now Charles Leclerc was at risk of elimination: Then he was pushed out by Sargeant, who went forth!
Leclerc, Stroll, Zhou, Tsunoda and Ricciardo in elimination. George Russell improved, as he caught up with his teammate, sitting in second and third for now. The track was dry at this time of qualifying.
With one minute to go, Charles Leclerc started a flying lap. He finished his lap, going in eighth and pushing out Max Verstappen. However, the Dutchman improved last minute, and pushed out Sargeant. Lance Stroll finished his flying lap to push out Charles Leclerc – a catastrophe for the Maranello team.
Knocked out: Leclerc, Sargeant, Tsunoda, Zhou, Ricciardo.
Q3
As the last part of qualifying in Silverstone started, the track was clear for the first two minutes. Then all the drivers went out on track to knock in their best time. With nine minutes to go, Max Verstappen and the McLaren's started their flying laps. The Dutchman finished his lap with a 1:26.350s, usurped by Oscar Piastri with a 1:26.237s and Lando Norris with a 1:26.030s. Then the Mercedes came, and came in between the McLaren's. George Russell was faster by 0.006s than Lando Norris.
Meanwhile, Hulkenberg had a solid time to be in sixth place, behind Verstappen. The German was followed by Sainz in the only Ferrari in Q3, and both Aston Martins. The top ten was rounded by Albon in P10 after the first round of flying laps. With three minutes to go, cars went out for a final drive around the track in Silverstone. However, Max Verstappen made a mistake in his last run, surprisingly. Could he get the pole here?
The chequered flag was waved, Alex Albon finished eighth, but was usurped by Stroll to finish in P8. Max Verstappen was already behind temporary pole-sitter Russell in the first sector. The Dutchman finished in fourth place for the race. Surprisingly then, Nico Hulkenberg finished last flying lap to go to P6!
There came Hamilton – to top the leaderboard! Could the McLaren's challenge the Mercedes? But Norris dived into the pits, as George Russell sped by – and finished on pole, usurping his teammate. It was a front row lock-up for the German team, while Norris finished in third. This qualifying saw a 1-2-3 for all British drivers – first time in F1 history.
Oscar Piastri would start in P5, behind Red Bull's Verstappen. In P7 would be Carlos Sainz with Ferrari ahead Lance Stroll of Aston Martin. In ninth place would start Alex Albon ahead of Fernando Alonso.
Who will win the Formula One British Grand Prix? And could the rain affect tomorrow's race? Let’s watch and see tomorrow at 3 p.m. BST (track time).
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