- Max Verstappen takes pole position at the British GP with his final lap.
- For the world champion it is the 5th pole in a row.
- The first pursuers are surprisingly the two McLaren.
Of course, Max Verstappen was happy about his 7th pole position of the year. But the biggest celebration was in the McLaren pits after qualifying was hampered by rain. At the home GP, Lando Norris and team-mate Oscar Piastri shone with finishes 2 and 3. The updates that brought the team to Silverstone clearly had an impact.
The same can only be said of Mercedes with reservations. George Russell and Lewis Hamilton, who are also taking to the track this weekend with new parts, still had to line up behind the two Ferraris, who accused each other of “unsportsmanship” over the radio.
Perez needs the next catch-up
Verstappen’s Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez fared even worse. The Mexican was once again unable to convert the strongest car in the field into a good grid position. He missed Q2 by a paltry 19 thousandths and will have to start from the 8th row. Perez had already started from position 15 in the last race in Spielberg – and then finished third on the podium in the race.
Not everything went smoothly for Verstappen in qualifying either: the world champion drove his car into the wall at walking pace in the pit lane and blamed understeer.
Bottas good, not the car
Alfa-Sauber driver Valtteri Bottas also experienced light and shadow within seconds. The Finn made it into Q2 as 11th at the last minute, but had to leave his car on the lap back to the pits on the track. He will therefore start from 15th place on Sunday. Guanyu Zhou (CHN) will start the race 3 positions further down.