Although Verstappen has some weekend room to spare, he was unable to hit first as expected. The fight in the sprint qualifying race this Saturday is going to be frantic.
Carlos Sainz will come out to that classification to sprint in 9th position, just behind George Russell, with Fernando Alonso 11th, which touched Q3.
Q1: Verstappen leaves no doubt
The session started with Max verstappen marking territory although with only three hundredths over Lewis hamilton, since all the pilots significantly improved their times compared to the free practice session.
The strategy was a bit decaffeinated in this first run, since all they had to keep in mind was not to use more than one or two new sets of soft tires to save for later.
With this in mind, some pilots did not rush more than one batch (in the case of Verstappen, Hamilton or Bottas), and others used at least two, such as Fernando Alonsor (who was comfortable 11th) or Carlos Sainz (4th). The progressive improvement of the track conditions led to some frantic last minutes, which led to numerous changes of position and several scares.
Those eliminated were Yuki Tsunoda, Kimi Raikkonen, Nicholas Latifi, Mick Schumacher Y Nikita mazepin.
Times table Q1 British Grand Prix
Q2: Verstappen and Hamilton challenge for Q3
For the first time in years, a Q2 session was played at full throttle for everyone and without thinking about the wheels. That led to the fight between Lewis hamilton Y Max verstappen, who was again the fastest although this time by less than a tenth, remained red hot … although with the British hitting the table.
In these circumstances and given that they had the precedent of Q1, almost everyone waited until the last moment to try to make their good lap. Among them, a Fernando Alonso that he could not set a sufficient time for Q3 in the previous round.
Almost all improved, including one George Russell who made the ‘top 10’ with a memorable 7th time, or Carlos Sainz that slipped 4th. Also Lewis hamilton, who put three tenths to Verstappen.
The three Brits on the grid entered Q3, while those eliminated were Fernando Alonso (for only 25 thousandths), Pierre Gasly, Esteban Ocon, Antonio Giovinazzi Y Lance Stroll.
Times table Q2 British Grand Prix
Q3: Hamilton drives Silverstone crazy
Although it was not worth him to be the ‘poleman’, because that role will be decided this Saturday, Lewis hamilton He was delighted with the British fans who packed the Silverstone stands with two memorable laps.
Especially the first time was key, which helped him to take the first half since in the second he made a mistake that made him lose even more the improvement he was taking. Max verstappen He stayed at 7 hundredths, although the fight for victory this Saturday will be frantic.
With Valtteri Bottas 3rd, the other news was the 8th of George Russell. Williams’ will come out ahead of Carlos Sainz, 9th.
Times table Q3 British Grand Prix
The next session will be the free seconds of the weekend, this Saturday at 1:00 p.m. (Spanish peninsular time).