05/07/2025 17:19
Max Verstappen silenced Silverstone to deny McLaren pole position
for the British Grand Prix, following a staggering final effort in
qualifying. The four-time world champion was the last to complete
his final Q3 lap and set a blistering 1m 24.892, pipping Oscar
Piastri to pole position. It was a six-way fight for pole which
went down to the final seconds, with Lando Norris, George Russell
and Lewis Hamilton completing the top five on the grid. Qualifying
was largely incident-free, with the exception of a brief red flag
in Q1 after Franco Colapinto was forced to stop after spinning at
the final corner. Report continues below! Q3 - Verstappen
brilliance With McLaren, Ferrari and Verstappen having all shown
pace during qualifying, a five-way fight for pole position was
expected in front of a huge British crowd. It was provisional pole
for Piastri after the first hot laps on a 1m 24.995, but with
Hamilton in second just 0.135s adrift. Norris in third was the
only other driver within two-tenths of his team-mate, whilst
Verstappen and Leclerc were nearly three-tenths adrift in fourth
and fifth. It meant it was advantage Piastri ahead of the final
qualifying laps. McLaren's duo were the first to complete their
final lap, whilst Verstappen was the last. Norris crossed the line
first but failed to pip Piastri's time, with the Australian having
also not improved. Russell delivered a stunning lap to knock
Hamilton to fourth; however, it was all eyes on Verstappen who went
purple through the first two sectors. The Dutchman delivered to
snatch pole position by 0.103s, ahead of Piastri, Norris, Russell,
Hamilton, Leclerc, Kimi Antonelli, Oliver Bearman, Fernando Alonso
and Pierre Gasly. Q2 - Tsunoda suffers latest early exit Following
a frantic end to Q1, the rain drops decreased, with there having
been a mix of drivers on new and used soft tyres. Both Ferrari
drivers set their initial Q2 laps on used tyres, leaving Hamilton
and Leclerc in a worrying 11th and 13th. In addition, Antonelli and
Tsunoda found themselves in 12th and 15th after the first laps in
the second part of qualifying. At the front, Norris led the way
ahead of Verstappen and Piastri who set identical lap times;
however, all three drivers used a new set of soft tyres. It put
significant pressure on both Ferraris, Antonelli and Tsunoda ahead
of their final Q2 laps on new tyres. Hamilton and Leclerc both did
the business to safely progress to Q3, with the final Q2 laps
having seen significant improvement. One driver who barely improved
was Tsunoda, resulting in yet another early qualifying exit. The
Japanese driver had to settle for 12th, and was joined in the drop
zone by Carlos Sainz, Isack Hadjar, Alex Albon and Esteban Ocon.
Remarkably, Hamilton led a Ferrari one-two in Q2 ahead of Norris,
courtesy of a 1m 25.084. Q1 - Colapinto triggers red flag As
qualifying got underway, drops of rain were present around
Silverstone but not significant enough for soft tyres not to be
used. Colapinto spun on his second push lap at the final corner but
miraculously escaped the gravel, despite having struck the
barrier. Despite the Alpine driver escaping the gravel trap, he
was forced to stop which triggered a red flag with just under seven
minutes remaining and eliminated the Argentinian from qualifying.
When the session resumed, the remaining 19 drivers head out due to
remarkable track evolution., although reported that the rain drops
had increased. It was Gabriel Bortoleto, Ocon, Nico Hulkenberg and
Gasly in the drop zone when the green flag was waved. Antonelli and
Tsunoda were also at risk in 13th and 15th, respectively. Ocon and
Gasly both escaped the drop zone, at the expense of Liam Lawson and
Lance Stroll. Lawson finished in 16th, ahead of Bortoleto, Stroll,
Hulkenberg and Colapinto. Verstappen topped the first part of
qualifying on a 1m 25.886, ahead of Piastri and an impressive
Bearman.
