Max Verstappen takes his 7th pole position of the season as he goes fastest ahead of the two McLarens in 2nd and 3rd.
Q1
Rain earlier in the day meant the Silverstone circuit was very greasy at the start of qualifying with drivers struggling for grip, especially in the last few corners. Lewis Hamilton demonstrated this as spun at Stowe corner on his first flying lap, but managed to keep the car out of the wall. Other drivers like Carlos Sainz and Alex Albon were also seen squirming through the exit of that same corner.
Though there had been reports by drivers that rain had began to fall once more, it did not seem to be significant at all, as times continued to get faster, and drivers remained on slick tyres.
Kevin Magnussen’s session came to a premature end, as his power unit abruptly stopped working. Having parked on the track, the red flag was brought out with three minutes to go.
There was a bizarre situation during the red flag as Max Verstappen understeered into the wall in the pits as he got ready for green flag running to resume. Fortunately for him, the only thing damaged was his front wing, which was promptly replaced.
The track had evolved greatly in the closing moments of the session, meaning times were tumbling at a staggering rate. Sergio Perez was the first to cross the line, and had set the fastest time in the process, but found himself eliminated in 16th by the end of Q1 because most other drivers managed to find more grip. This is the fifth time in a row that the Mexican driver has failed to reach Q3.
Eliminated
16. Sergio Perez – Red Bull +0.019
17. Yuki Tsunoda – Alpha Tauri +0.076
18. Zhou Guanyu – Alfa Romeo +0.174
19. Nyck De Vries – Alpha Tauri +0.564
20. Kevin Magnussen – Haas +2.429
Q2
Valtteri Bottas had been quick enough to make it through to Q2, though he suffered a loss in power towards the end of Q1, which ended his day early.
Though the track had improved a lot since the start of Q1, there was still a significant lack of grip on the track, allowing for significant time improvements throughout the session once more.
Alex Albon once again made his way into Q3 after being in the top 3 of each practice session this weekend. His teammate was unable to match his pace, and after having initially gone 9th with his final lap, was pushed down to 14th as others around him went faster.
There was an squabble between Esteban Ocon and Lance Stroll, as Ocon attempted to overtake the Aston Martin driver on their final qualifying lap. The incident did neither driver any favours as both were knocked out in Q2.
Eliminated
11. Nico Hulkenberg – Haas +0.114
12. Lance Stroll – Aston Martin +0.153
13. Esteban Ocon – Alpine +0.174
14. Logan Sargeant – Williams +0.249
15. Valtteri Bottas – Alfa Romeo NO TIME
Q3
Verstappen set the benchmark early on just as he has done many times already this season, going over 6 tenths quicker than Hamilton in 2nd place.
This gap looked like it could be insurmountable, though as drivers began to complete their final runs it became clear Verstappen was going to need to improve. Charles Leclerc was about half a tenth shy of the time, with Carlos Sainz only 12 thousandths slower than that.
Then, the crowd erupted as Lando Norris briefly took pole position at his home race by just over a tenth. The celebrations lasted for about ten seconds, until Verstappen crossed the line and snatched pole away, pushing Norris down to second, just ahead his teammate Oscar Piastri in third.
This is the second time that Verstappen and Norris will have shared the front row of the grid, with the first being the 2021 Austrian Grand Prix.
Qualifying Results
1. Max Verstappen – Red Bull 1:26.720
2. Lando Norris – McLaren +0.241
3. Oscar Piastri– McLaren +0.372
4. Charles Leclerc – Ferrari +0.416
5. Carlos Sainz – Ferrari +0.428
6. George Russell – Mercedes +0.435
7. Lewis Hamilton – Mercedes +0.491
8. Alex Albon – Williams +0.810
9. Fernando Alonso – Aston Martin +0.939
10. Pierre Gasly – Alpine +0.969
