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Hamilton qualifies on pole for Formula 1's first sprint race at Silverstone

16 July 2021 at 19:00
Last update 16 July 2021 at 19:04
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  • Matt Gretton
  • Editor-in-Chief

Lewis Hamilton has qualified on pole position for Formula 1's first-ever sprint race. The British driver will start Sunday's 100km dash, the result of which will determine the starting grid for the British Grand Prix, from pole position. Hamilton proves that Mercedes' upgrades are worthy as they look to close the gap on Red Bull Racing in the World Championship at Silverstone.

For the start of the sprint race, Verstappen will line up alongside his rival. He was just 0.075 seconds short after Hamilton made a mistake in the final set of corners. Bottas will start from third, with Leclerc completing the second row of the grid. 

Hamilton led Verstappen by just 0.172 seconds after the first run in Q3. This was cut as Hamilton failed to improved despite going purple in sectors one and two. 

It's the first time Hamilton has recorded the fastest time in Formula 1's qualifying session since the Spanish Grand Prix over two months ago.

To the roar of the home fans, Russell managed to pull a 1:27.080 out of the bag to reach Q3 for the second race running. Once again, the British driver gives Toto Wolff and Mercedes food for thought in the contract negotiations. As a prize, Russell had a lap of honour with an empty track in the middle of Q3. 

The British Grand Prix forms the first of three trial events. Instead of two Friday practice sessions, just one took place this afternoon. 'Normal' qualifying took place on Friday evening, which forms the grid for a sprint race on Saturday afternoon. The result of the sprint race forms the grid for the traditional Grand Prix. This format will be used on two more occasions during the 2021 F1 season. 

Drivers were only allowed to use the red soft tyre for this qualifying session. 

Q1

The Silverstone circuit sat in splendid evening sunshine which took the track temperatures to 39c and the air temperature to 25c. Despite plenty of traffic towards the end of his lap, Hamilton topped the timesheets by 0.327 seconds after the first set of runs. Verstappen had to bail out of the throttle on the final corner, but beat Hamilton by almost half a second. 

At the halfway stage, both Haas drivers, Lance Stroll and Nicholas Latifi sat in the drop zone. Whilst Norris found himself in the top 10, Daniel Ricciardo's troubles continued as he sat in P16 with six minutes remaining. 

Under pressure, Ricciardo pulled a strong lap out of the bag to make himself safe. The two Haas drivers stayed in the drop zone, as did Latifi. Lance Stroll escaped and was replaced by Yuki Tsunoda. Kimi Raikkonen also dropped out in Q1 for the fourth consecutive race. With the Mercedes talk hanging over his head, George Russell proved his qualifying skills are on a Friday as well with the 14th fastest time. 

Out - P20 - Mazepin, P19 - Schumacher, P18 - Latifi, P17 - Kimi Raikkonen, P16 - Yuki Tsunoda

Q2

Once again, Verstappen and Hamilton were locked together at the top of the timesheets, with less than a tenth between the two Championship rivals. During his 50th Grand Prix weekend, Antonio Giovinazzi sat in the drop zone, along with Stroll, Alonso, Russell and Gasly with seven minutes remaining.  

The Ferrari drivers waited until the track was quiet and looked to find a tow with each other. Perez also reported on the radio that he was looking for a tow on the circuit. On the second run, Hamilton went purple in all three sectors to go quickest overall. 

For the second race running, Russell found a lot of time to reach Q3 in the Williams.

Out - P15 - Stroll, P14 - Giovinazzi, P13 - Ocon, P12 - Gasly, P11 - Alonso