“It was a good lap, I was fighting a lot with the water,” said Sainz. “Pole comes as a bit of a surprise,” added Sainz, currently fifth overall.
Local hero and seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton will start from fifth on the grid with his Mercedes. His partner George Russell, from the eighth.
Mercedes, like Alpine and Williams, arrived at Silverstone with a series of modifications to their cars. For the ‘Silver Arrows’ it is about coming back after a start to the season that has been uphill due to the new regulations.
The last Briton on the grid, Lando Norris (McLaren), will start sixth, the Spanish Fernando Alonso seventh at the wheel of his Alpine, while the Chinese Zhou Guanyu (Alfa Romeo) was ninth, his best performance in qualifying since his arrival at F1 this season.
Also noteworthy is the good performance of Canadian Nicholas Latifi who, at the wheel of his Williams, will start from tenth place on the grid on Sunday.
According to weather forecasts, Sunday promises to be more clement.