The McLaren duo were once again beaten by Max Verstappen, who put in an impressive and surprise fastest lap towards the end of qualifying to secure pole position at Silverstone. Oscar Piastri will join him on the front row, Lando Norris getting out-qualified by his teammate for the first time at his home race. The McLaren driver will start in third on the grid, ahead of fellow Brits George Russell and Lewis Hamilton in fourth and fifth respectively.
Read about the full Qualifying session below!
Q1 Report:
The drivers all came out for what started as a calm first qualifying session, however, with around eight minutes remaining, Franco Colapinto spun, crashing into the barriers at the final corner. Yellow flags were initially waved as the driver got the car started again, however he pulled off the track and came to a stop, resulting in red flags being shown. The session eventually resumed with six minutes left to go, as the drivers all came out in attempts to secure their position in Q2.
However, the drivers who could not continue on from Q1 were Liam Lawson, Gabriel Bortoleto, Lance Stroll, Nico Hulkenberg, as the Kick Sauber team does not appear to be in top form this weekend, and Franco Colapinto, after his crash in the session.
Q2 Report:
Hamilton and Leclerc were the fastest drivers out on track during the second qualifying session, one that contained much less drama than Q1. Both McLarens are also looking equally quick, as Piastri set a time identical to Verstappen’s before Norris powered through to set a quicker time than both. Yuki Tsunoda, after missing out on FP1 yesterday, seemed to be gaining some momentum, however he got pushed down the order in Q2, and was one of the drivers that will be missing out on the top-ten shootout.
All drivers eliminated are Carlos Sainz, Yuki Tsunoda, Isack Hadjar, Alex Albon, which means a double exit for Williams, and Esteban Ocon.
Q3 Report:
At last the shootout for pole position arrived, where it appeared to be a close fight for the reward. Oscar Piastri was the driver that initially looked to be on provisional pole, and seemed to be improving before a mistake on his flying lap tripped him up. Teammate Lando Norris, as well as Hamilton and Leclerc, were also unable to improve, however Max Verstappen showed why he is a four-time World Champion and put together a masterful lap to secure pole position in Silverstone.
Oscar Piastri was behind in second, while Lando Norris is third, ahead of George Russell. Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc are fifth and sixth respectively, and Antonelli slotted in seventh, though the Mercedes driver will drop three places down due to a penalty he received in Austria. Ollie Bearman went eighth fastest, however he will also not keep his original position, due to a grid drop of ten places that he earned due to a red flag infringement in FP3. Meanwhile, Fernando Alonso and Pierre Gasly rounded out the top ten.
