Max Verstappen takes a surprising pole position at Silverstone, beating McLarens and Ferraris that appeared to be faster.
Q1
Franco Colapinto had a spin around the final corner, skidding across the gravel and hitting into the barrier. While he was able to get out of the barrier in that scenario, his car was not in a fit state, and he parked the car just past turn 2, ending his qualifying early and bringing out the red flag.
Spots of rain had been reported in the pitlane as qualifying got back under way, with Piastri backing out of a flying lap and Hamilton reporting the track to be slippery, although drivers were still able to improve their times.
Hamilton looked like he could have potentially been at threat of elimination on Q1, as he set his fastest time early compared to those in the drop zone, but he was able to avoid the ignominy of such an early exit in front of his home crowd.
ELIMINATED
16. Liam Lawson – Racing Bulls +0.112
17. Gabriel Bortoleto – Sauber +0.118
18. Lance Stroll – Aston Martin +0.176
19. Nico Hulkenberg – Sauber +0.246
20. Franco Colapinto – Alpine +0.732
Q2
A rare occurrence took place in Q2 as Verstappen and Piastri set identical times in their first runs, briefly being first and second place respectively before Norris would pip them both just moments later.
The Ferrari cars went out on used tyres for their first runs, putting them at risk of elimination if they messed up their final laps. Fortunately for the team, Hamilton would lead a 1-2, which they would be hoping translated into Q3 pace as well.
Yuki Tsunoda was five tenths slower than his teammate Verstappen, and seven tenths slower than Hamilton in first, this left him in the drop zone, and he once again fails to make it into the final part of qualifying.
Albon complained about the car feeling completely different on his final lap, which led to him qualifying only 14th fastest.
ELIMINATED
11. Carlos Sainz – Williams +0.035
12. Yuki Tsunoda – Red Bull +0.115
13. Isack Hadjar – Racing Bulls +0.153
14. Alexander Albon – Williams +0.176
15. Esteban Ocon – Haas +0.239
Q3
Hamilton put in a strong lap on everyone’s first runs for Q3, managing to split the McLarens after everyone’s first runs, as Piastri took an early provisional pole position.
Norris would be the first to make his attempt for pole, but would fail to beat Piastri’s time by 15 thousandths of a second. Piastri would also fail to improve his time, all the while Hamilton was on for provisional pole coming out of sector 2.
However, Hamilton would struggle in the final sector, losing a bunch of time and ultimately finishing Q3 in fifth.
It would be Max Verstappen who would pull an amazing lap out of nowhere to beat both the McLarens and the Ferraris to take pole position at Silverstone, despite having been complaining all weekend about the quality of his car.
Qualifying Results
1. Max Verstappen – Red Bull 1:24.892
2. Oscar Piastri – McLaren +0.103
3. Lando Norris – McLaren +0.118
4. George Russell – Mercedes +0.137
5. Lewis Hamilton – Ferrari +0.203
6. Charles Leclerc – Ferrari +0.229
7. Andrea Kimi Antonelli – Mercedes +0.482
8. Oliver Bearman – Haas +0.579
9. Fernando Alonso – Aston Martin +0.729
10. Pierre Gasly – Alpine +0.893
