BRITISH GP – George Russell beats Lewis Hamilton by two tenths in tricky conditions to take pole
George Russell has beaten his Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton by nearly two-tenths of a second to take pole position for the British Grand Prix. Russell set a 25.819 having his first run in Q3 he further improved to secure pole ahead of the seven-time champion.
It is Mercedes’ first front-row lockout in F1 since November 2022 and emphatically signals the former champions’ return to front-running contention in the sport after two-and-a-half seasons in Red Bull’s shadow.
Lando Norris put his McLaren third four hundredths behind Hamilton, the Bristolian backing out of his final attempt after several errors at the start of the lap. Silverstone was always going to be about the battle of Britain, mixed conditions put Kings Lynn v Stevenage v Bristol for pole in what was a frantic hour with ever-changing conditions. Floor damage early on had taken Max Verstappen out of the picture.
Russell held provisional pole after the first Q3 runs, albeit only by six thousandths from Norris with Hamilton third, before Hamilton threatened to take the Mercedes pole for himself by beating his team-mate’s marker by three and a half hundredths on his final attempt.
For the first time since 1962 and the first time at Silverstone, British drivers locked the top three positions on the grid. While Hamilton improved on his final run, it wasn’t enough to beat the improvements being made by Russell leaving him two-tenths off.
Russell said, “The car at the moment is feeling so good. It really came alive in qualy. What a joy to drive around this circuit. We are riding this wave at the moment. Absolutely buzzing. But eyes on tomorrow. We have a race to win.”
Hamilton, who had been chasing a record-extending eighth British GP pole at a race he has won a record eight times, admitted he had “still time left on the table, which George was able to find. I feel really confident about the car tomorrow and I think with the conditions we have, we can work together to keep Lando behind.”
Verstappen was fourth the Red Bull driver splitting the McLaren’s going just under two-tenths behind Norris, and ahead of Oscar Piastiri by three-hundredths having damaged his floor through the gravel trap in Q1.
But that didn’t stop the three-time champions from beating Piastri. Verstappen’s teammate Sergio Perez wasn’t so lucky, his spin saw him beech the Red Bull and out in Q1 leaving him nineteenth on the grid. The Red Bull looking difficult to drive in the conditions at Silverstone, for both drivers
Red Bull’s mechanics tried desperately to repair Verstappen’s car as much as they could in the breaks between the three sessions but it remained in far from optimum condition and he was unable to challenge the flying British drivers.
It was an impressive session for Nico Hulkenberg, sixth for Haas a tenth behind Piastri and out-qualifying the team engine supplier Ferrari, Carlos Sainz, by over a tenth and a half. Ferrari had abandoned their Barcelona aerodynamic upgrade overnight on Friday after struggling with aerodynamic bouncing.
Lance Stroll was eighth putting his Aston Martin half a tenth ahead of Alex Albon, who made sure all four British-born drivers made it through to Q3, the Williams driver going nearly three tenths faster than Fernando Alonso.
Aston Martin returning to the top ten for their home Grand Prix following a difficult few races. Albon took a fine ninth to equal the team’s best grid spot of the season so far.
Charles Leclerc was the biggest casualty of Q2, the Ferrari driver missing out on the final part by just over a tenth and a half. He had complained about the handling of his car.
The Monacan going eight hundredths faster than Logan Sargeant, he couldn’t follow Verstappen’s improvement and was knocked out by Stroll.
the Williams driver having a good qualifying as he was nearly a tenth faster than Yuki Tsunoda, the RB driver had only just got out of Q1 thanks to his last minute improvement. The Sauber of Guanyu Zhou spilt the two RBs he was six tenths behind Tsunoda and ahead of Daniel Ricciardo by eight hundredths.
Tsunoda’s improvement knocked out Valtteri Bottas, the Finn sixteenth ahead of Kevin Magnussen. Perez spilt the Alpine’s with Esteban Ocon nearly eight-tenths faster, with Pierre Gasly over a second and a half behind.
Perez’s poor form continuing after signing a new contract with Red Bull in May, question continue about how secure his position at the team really is.
A Q1 exit on Saturday was therefore the last thing Perez needed, particularly when it came courtesy of an error, albeit in tricky slippery conditions when drivers had just started changing from intermediate to slick tyres.