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George Russell (Mercedes) will start from pole position for Sunday’s British Grand Prix after setting the fastest time in qualifying on Saturday at the 5.891km Silverstone circuit. In front of their home crowd, the British drivers completed a hat-trick as Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) will start in second position, ahead of Lando Norris’ McLaren, while Dutchman Max Verstappen (Red Bull) has to settle for fourth on the grid.
Russell, winner of the Austrian Grand Prix last Sunday after taking advantage of a collision between Verstappen and Norris at the end of the race, took the third pole position of his career, the second in a month after the one obtained in Canada at the beginning of June. “It’s incredible. At the start of the season, we would never have dreamed of being on pole position here and there we are first and second with Lewis (Hamilton, his team-mate). And with Lando (Norris) in third position, it’s great,” savored Russell.
Hulkenberg and Haas on top, Ferrari and Alpine in difficulty
Verstappen, who went off the track and into the gravel in Q2, was unable to defend his chances completely and nevertheless managed to limit the damage by snatching fourth place, four tenths behind the “poleman”. The three-time reigning world champion narrowly beat the second McLaren of Australian Oscar Piastri, while German Nico Hülkenberg confirmed that he was formidable in qualifying by taking a promising sixth place ahead of the Ferrari of Spaniard Carlos Sainz. In difficulty for several weeks, the Scuderia has not been able to find its level of performance from the first races of the season, as illustrated by the disappointing 11th place of Monaco’s Charles Leclerc on Saturday.
The top 10 of these qualifications is completed by the Canadian Lance Stroll (Aston Martin), the Thai Alex Albon (Williams) and the Spanish veteran Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin). Alpine for its part had catastrophic qualifications: Pierre Gasly finished 20th and last but he did not push knowing that he would start last no matter what after changing his engine, while Esteban Ocon failed in 18th place after being trapped by the weather conditions.
The French single-seaters, which had nevertheless raised their heads in recent weeks, will therefore start at the back of the grid, just separated by the Red Bull of Sergio Pérez, who went off the road in Q1 which caused a red flag. Stuck in the gravel trap, the Mexican was unable to restart and will therefore have a hard time scoring points on Sunday while rumours circulating in the paddock claim that he could lose his drive at Red Bull, even though he has just extended his contract by two years.
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