Verstappen claims pole in Silverstone ahead of Norris, Perez P16

Max Verstappen has claimed his seventh pole position this season in Silverstone, being the only Red Bull in Q3. Following the first runs in the session, Verstappen was already in first place ahead of Lewis Hamilton quite comfortably, by more than six tenths. They were followed by Oscar Piastri and and the two Ferraris, Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz.

In their decisive laps on a new set of soft tyres, the two McLarens improved the most, with Lando Norris taking P1 for a short amount of time, and Oscar Piastri finishing in P3. The McLaren's were followed by the two Ferraris and the two Mercedes, in the order of Leclerc, Sainz, Russell and Hamilton. Alexander Albon continued his great weekend by claiming P8, Fernando Alonso finished ninth, and Pierre Gasly got tenth place.

Q2

Light rain arrived at the track in Q2, but the drivers were still able to perform their best laps on soft tyres. There weren’t as many incidents in the second session, only Esteban Ocon impeded Leclerc, but the Monegasque driver safely qualified. Ocon also had a misunderstanding on track with Lance Stroll. Max Verstappen topped Q2, while Russell was the last one to make it into the final session.

OUT - P15 Bottas, P14 Sargeant, P13 Ocon, P12 Stroll, P11 Hulkenberg

Q1

The session started with most of the grid using slicks, while the two Ferraris among others put on the intermediate tyres to complete their first laps. Those who chose the intermediates quickly came back to the pits to change their tyres, but it was not easier for the ones using the slick, as Hamilton quickly spun in Stowe. Stowe was the wettest corner in FP1, many drivers made mistakes in the slippery corner. With three minutes to go, Kevin Magnussen had to stop on track with a mechanical issue, causing a red flag.

Sergio Perez was once again knocked out early on this Saturday, as he was the first person to set his lap on a fast-evolving track. Alongside Perez, the two AlphaTauris were knocked out with Guanyu Zhou. Moreover, not only Magnussen’s but also Valtteri Bottas’ car also stopped on track once the session ended.

There were several other incidents. During the red flag, Verstappen broke his front wing in the pit lane and Esteban Ocon almost crashed with Zhou, for which the Chinese driver will be investigated. Additionally, there was a bit of trouble between the driver in deciding the order in which they could start their final laps, leading to both Verstappen and Hamilton overtaking many cars in the second to last corner, and a misunderstanding between the two more Ferraris.

OUT - P20 Magnussen, P19 De Vries, P18 Zhou, P17 Tsunoda, P16 Perez