Max Verstappen has taken pole for the British Grand Prix. Having come to Silverstone on the back foot after his DNF in Austria, the reigning world champion found a tenth of a second at the last possible moment to take his 44th career pole. Verstappen later lauded both his team and the upgrades they have brought to Silverstone, stating that he appreciated being able to demonstrate the step Red Bull appear to have taken. The decision to run a slim rear wing led to significant straight-line gains.
Despite setting the pace in free practice, the McLarens had to make do with second and third. Oscar Piastri missed out on pole by just over a tenth of a second, while his teammate Lando Norris collected some dirt in Q3 and ended up 15 milliseconds further back. Ferrari were unable to capitalise on their free practice pace. Despite topping FP2, Lewis Hamilton could only manage 5th behind George Russell and ahead of Charles Leclerc. The seven-time world champion suffered a snap of oversteer out of the last corner that denied him a shot at the front row, while a couple of errors in the final sector left Leclerc vocally critical of his performance. Both Ferrari drivers later admitted to a top-two result being on the cards.
Russell expressed his surprise at qualifying fourth, having been between four and eight tenths of a second off the pace for much of the weekend. Russell’s teammate Kimi Antonelli will line up seventh, the Italian having lacked confidence in high-speed corners all weekend.
Undeterred by the ten-place grid penalty he received for his crash in FP3, Oliver Bearman did well to make it into Q3. The Brit qualifying seven places higher than his teammate Esteban Ocon. Fernando Alonso qualified ninth, one place ahead of Pierre Gasly, who later admitted to expecting a Q1 exit, such were his struggles in free practice. Carlos Sainz described eleventh place as the best he and his team could have hoped for, while Yuki Tsunoda failed to make it into Q3 for the seventh time this season. The Japanese driver was at a loss to explain his poor result.
Isack Hadjar claimed to have reached the limit of the VCARB 02 in 13th, one place ahead of Alex Albon, who attributed his inconsistent runs to the unpredictable gusts of wind, a common characteristic of Silverstone. Esteban Ocon was hampered by a flat spot and qualified 15th ahead of a frustrated Liam Lawson, who felt his 16th place was not indicative of the RB’s pace this weekend.
Gabriel Bortoleto qualified 17th, a tenth, and two places ahead of his teammate, Nico Hulkenberg. Lance Stroll split the Saubers in 18th, while Franco Colapinto ruled himself out of contention early. A snap of oversteer out of the final corner sent the Alpine driver spinning into the crash barriers and put him out of qualifying.
McLaren and Ferrari’s pace is evident; however, with rain forecast for race day, a possible five-way fight for the win could be on the cards.
