British Grand Prix: Verstappen on pole

      Cloudy. Dry. Air +19…22°C, Track +26…30°C

      Qualifying at Silverstone is always a event. It’s not only because the track layout makes overtaking difficult and much depends on starting position. Everyone wants to shine at Silverstone, race faster than all others on the “old school” high-speed circuit that is familiar to Formula 1 and most teams.

      Most teams brought their latest upgrades to Silverstone this season—some components appeared last week in Austria, but no further upgrades are planned—only scheduled updates that were prepared in advance and are in production.

      Understanding the new parts during practice proved challenging. Due to strong gusty winds, each lap was unique, leaving questions about the relative performance before qualifying began. On Friday practice, Hamilton and Norris led, while Saturday morning's best time was set by Leclerc.

      Overcast skies, much cooler than the day before, were eagerly anticipated by many aiming to get more out of their tires.

      Pirelli supplied softer tire compounds this round—C2, C3, and C4 as Hard, Medium, and Soft respectively.

      In the first session, everyone used Soft tires. Piastri led with a 1:26.002 on his first attempt. Eight minutes before the session ended, Colapinto’s car spun around, he went off track, crossed the gravel trap, and hit the barrier.

      Franco was able to return to the track and slowly headed towards the pits but soon stopped—the session was paused with red flags to recover the car. Less than seven minutes remained.

      After the pause, drivers went back out, with Verstappen setting the pace at 1:25.886. Ferrari didn’t top up Hamilton’s fuel enough for a second quick lap, so he returned to the pits but moved from 14th to further up.

      Looson, Bortoleto, Stroll, Hülkenberg, and Colapinto were eliminated.

      In the second session, Verstappen immediately set a new benchmark of 1:25.316, but Piastri matched this time, then Norris edged ahead by eight hundredths, with 1:25.231.

      In the second attempt, Hamilton took the top spot with 1:25.084, five-tenths ahead of his teammate. Sainz, Tsunoda, Hajar, Albon, and Ocon failed to qualify for the final.

      In the final, Piastri’s first attempt was a 1:24.995, ten thousandths ahead of Hamilton— the top five were all within three tenths.

      In the second run, Norris and Russell split Piastri and Hamilton, with Verstappen leading with a 1:24.892.

      Max Verstappen won the Silverstone qualifying, earning his 44th career pole and fourth of the season. He will share the front row with championship leader Oscar Piastri, while Norris and Russell start from the second row, and Hamilton and Leclerc from the third.

      Qualifying results

      Driver

       Team

       Q1

       Q2

       Q3

      M

       Time

       Qr

       M

       Time

       Qr

       M

       Time

       Qr

      1. M. Verstappen

       Red Bull

       1

       1:25.886

       6

       4

       1:25.316

       6

       1

       1:24.892

       6

      2. O. Piastri

       McLaren

       2

       1:25.963

       9

       5

       1:25.316

       6

       2

       1:24.995

       6

      3. L. Norris

       McLaren

       6

       1:26.123

       8

       3

       1:25.231

       6

       3

       1:25.010

       6

      4. D. Russell

       Mercedes

       11

       1:26.236

       7

       9

       1:25.637

       6

       4

       1:25.029

       6

      5. L. Hamilton

       Ferrari

       14

       1:26.296

       7

       1

       1:25.084

       6

       5

       1:25.095

       6

      6. Sh. Leclerc

       Ferrari

       10

       1:26.186

       9

       2

       1:25.133

       6

       6

       1:25.121

       6

      7. K. Antonelli

       Mercedes

       12

       1:26.265

       6

       8

       1:25.620

       6

       7

       1:25.374

       6

      8. O. Berman

       Haas

       3

       1:26.005

       6

       6

       1:25.534

       6

       8

       1:25.471

       6

      9. F. Alonso

       Aston Martin

       5

       1:26.108

       3

       7

       1:25.593

       6

       9

       1:25.621

       6

      10. P. Gasly

       Alpine

       15

       1:26.328

       9

       10

       1:25.711

       6

       10

       1:25.785

       6

      11. C. Sainz

       Williams

       8

       1:26.175

       6

       11

       1:25.746

       6

      12. Y. Tsunoda

       Red Bull

       13

       1:26.275

       7

       12

       1:25.826

       6

      13. A. Hajar

       Racing Bulls

       9

       1:26.177

       6

       13

       1:25.864

       6

      14. A. Albon

       Williams

       4

       1:26.093

       7

       14

       1:25.889

       6

      15. E. Ocon

       Haas

       7

       1:26.136

       6

       15

       1:25.950

       6

      16. L. Looson

       Racing Bulls

       16

       1:26.440

       6

      17. G. Bortoleto

       Sauber

       17

       1:26.446

       9

      18. L. Stroll

       Aston Martin

       18

       1:26.504

       9

      19. N. Hulkenberg

       Sauber

       19

       1:26.574

       9

      20. F. Colapinto

       Alpine

       20

       1:27.060

       6