05/07/2025 13:44
Two red flags late in the final practice session for the British
Grand Prix cast an air of mystery over the F1 field going into
qualifying, in particular for Lewis Hamilton. In the closing stages
on new soft tyres, seven-time F1 champion Hamilton was poised to
threaten Ferrari team-mate Charles Leclerc's leading lap time of
1:25.498s. But the first red flag, to retrieve a piece of bodywork
at the end of the Hangar Straight, forced Hamilton to abort, and
leave him in a lowly 11th on the timesheet. With four minutes
remaining when the track reopened, there was still time to push one
final time, but Stake's Gabriel Bortoleto crashed out after losing
control of his car through the Maggots/Becketts complex. The second
red flag led to the end of the session, with Leclerc on top ahead
of McLaren duo Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris, either side of Max
Verstappen in his Red Bull, with the quartet covered by just
0.108s. Following a five-minute delay to clear away an excessive
amount of marbles on the track, the early running was light in the
opening 10 minutes, with only Alpine duo Franco Colapinto and
Pierre Gasly posting times. Under grey skies, and with air and
track temperatures considerably lower than in the sunnier
conditions on Friday - with the latter by a striking 16 degrees
Celsius - Hamilton's first serious lap was a 1:27.351s, deposing
Colapinto from top spot by 0.743s. With a higher fuel load on
board, Hamilton's lap was 1.5s slower than Norris' leading time
after FP2. Just as Norris finally took to the track 16 minutes in,
on a second run on the same set of tyres, Hamilton lowered the
benchmark by eight-tenths of a second to 1:26.529s. Team-mate
Leclerc's first foray saw him edge Hamilton by 0.035s, followed
swiftly over the line by Verstappen who was 0.005s slower than the
Monégasque. A second push from Leclerc saw him clock 1:25.922s,
with Verstappen finishing 0.244s down on his follow-up tour. Aston
Martin's Fernando Alonso was the last to post a time 26 minutes in,
with his lap elevating him to 12th at the time, 1.5s behind
Leclerc. After a couple of cool-down laps, Hamilton seemed set to
threaten Leclerc after purpling the first sector and setting a
personal best in the second, only to encounter traffic in the last
and finish 0.410s down. It was a repeat story for Verstappen on his
next push. After purpling the first, and just as he posted a
personal best in the second sector, a slow Alpine halted his
progess at the start of the final sector. Soon after, Verstappen
took to his radio to complain about the brake bias on his RB21,
indicating it felt "like a handbrake". As for Norris and Piastri,
in the cooler climes, the duo were only eighth and ninth quickest
going into the more representative qualifying sim with 20 minutes
remaining. As two of the first cars on track on new soft tyres,
Norris immediately went top with a 1:25.606s, with Piastri usurping
him by 0.040s. Verstappen then split the McLaren duo, finishing
0.019s behind the Australian. Leclerc then went quickest by 0.068s.
As for Hamilton, just as he was poised to start his push lap on new
rubber, he suffered a snap out of the final corner, forcing him to
abort. Able to immediately cool and go again, Hamilton again
purpled the first and did a personal best in the second, only to
abort again due to the red flag. After a marshal retrieved the
offending part, seemingly from Oliver Bearman's Haas, it left four
minutes on the clock for the drivers to try and get in one last
lap. But then came Bortoleto's crash, breaking his suspension, and
a bizarre pitlane incident, with Bearman also crashing into a
barrier on entry, losing his front wing. Hamilton was not the only
driver who goes into qualifying as an unknown quantity, with
Mercedes duo George Russell and Kimi Antonelli unable to post
representative times, leaving the duo eighth and 14th. Behind the
leading quartet, Red Bull's Yuki Tsunoda was fifth quickest, ahead
of Bearman, Alex Albon in his Williams, then Russell and Racing
Bulls duo Isack Hadjar and Liam Lawson.
