Mercedes grabs the front row. Ferrari’s Leclerc will start third with Red Bull’s Verstappen and Gasly at fourth and fifth, respectively. Ferrari’s Vettel disappoints in sixth.
SILVERSTONE, England—July 13th—With three lap records being shattered in Saturday afternoon’s qualifying for Sunday’s British Grand Prix, it was another Mercedes front-row lockout. But a mistake in the final session by Lewis Hamilton gave teammate Valtteri Bottas a permanent track record–and the pole, too–with a time of 1:25:093. Charles Leclerc finished third in his Ferrari.
“It feels really good!” exclaimed a cool-minded Bottas afterward. “It has been very close all weekend. It was really good to get a good lap in.”
Leclerc held the track record with a 1:25:623 in the early going, but Hamilton topped it only a few seconds later by clocking a 1:25:513. Leclerc returned the favor in the middle session with a 1:25:546, and held the second session until Bottas bettered it in the final session.
Hamilton was on a flier in the final few minutes, but slid wide at Brooklands corner and lost his chance to get his fifth consecutive pole at this circuit.
The American Haas F1 Team led the list of names that were eliminated in the first two sessions. Kevin Magnussen was finished in the opening session. Teammate Romain Grosjean left one session later. Both Alfa Romeos of Kimi Raikkonen and Antonio Giovinazzi, along with Dani Kvyat, Carlos Sainz Jr. and Sergio Perez, never reached the final session, either.
The rest of the top ten were the two Red Bull drivers–Max Verstappen and Pierre Gasly–who both had a lackluster day, taking fourth and fifth, respectively. Sebastian Vettel had one of his most disappointing qualifying sessions in a while, finishing sixth.
Renault returned to the top ten after a horrible session at the last round in Austria, taking seventh for Daniel Ricciardo and tenth for Nico Hulkenberg. Lando Norris led the only McLaren to be in the top ten with an eighth-place finish. Alex Albon continued to impress for Toro Rosso with ninth.
Bottas, who will get his first pole start since Spain in May, considers himself lucky. But he was satisfied, too. “The first lap was good, honestly. I should have improved on the second run,” he then added. “I’m glad it was enough. It was not easy to get a good lap in, and mistakes can happen. But it’s good to be on top.”
