The top three drivers on the grid for tomorrow's Grand Prix at Silverstone will feature an all-British line-up for the first time since 1962, including a front row lock-out for Mercedes for George Russell and Lewis Hamilton.
Lando Norris was third for McLaren and will start ahead of Max Verstappen and Oscar Piastri, with Carlos Sainz only seventh after his Ferrari team mate Charles Leclerc missed the final cut.
There was further qualifying disaster for Sergio Perez this week after the Red Bull spun in early wet conditions at Copse and failed to set a time on slicks, meaning he lines up on the back row on Sunday's grid.
After a rain-hit final practice and a further downpour between sessions that had caused the F2 support race to be red-flagged and time-limited, conditions were finally looking up at Silverstone with the sun making a tentative appearance. That helped the track to start drying out as the cars prepared to head out for the first round of qualifying for the British Grand Prix.
The tyre choice from the starter menu was intermediates as Logan Sargeant was first to venture out followed by the two Saubers and the Alpine of Esteban Ocon. Soon the morning pace setters were out, Lewis Hamilton going top ahead of George Russell, but almost immediately Max Verstappen went more than two tenths ahead.
Lando Norris cut that gap down to 0.089s. The two Mercedes both went quicker on their second push laps with Oscar Piastri slotting into P3 ahead of a better time from Verstappens. But all this had the feeling of foreplay that would matter little once the slick tyres came out.
With under ten minutes left on the clock, the cars started to bolt on soft tyres to get the real contest underway. But before anyone could put them to good use there was a red flag for Sergio Perez losing the back end of the Red Bull after a snap of oversteer sent him spinning into the gravel at Copse. The RB20 was beached and out of the session.
The session resumed with seven and a half minutes remaining, cars queueing early on pit lane due to fears of more imminent rain. Valtteri Bottas was the first driver to set a time and jumped almost five seconds in front; in the blink of an eye the top ten was transformed with Piastri and Norris timing their runs perfectly to go top ahead of Nico Hulkenberg and Lewis Hamilton.
Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc scrambled to safety as the rain arrived, catching out Verstappen who went off into the gravel at the same place as his team mate had minutes earlier but without beaching the car. He able to continue and posted a time good enough for fourth, Carlos Sainz jumping out of the drop zone.
It was a nail-biting finish for everyone. Hamilton went quickest with a time of 1:29.547s half a second quicker than Russell followed by Leclerc and Sainz, Piastri now fifth from Yuki Tsunoda and Alex Albon. Verstappen had been pushed down to 11th but was safely through to Q2 as was Norris in 13th from Sargeant and Hulkenberg. Those missing out were Bottas, Magnussen and Ocon, along with with Perez and Pierre Gasly who had little to prove given his grid penalty for taking extra power unit components.
No more rain was expected as the cars headed out for the second round, led by Alex Albon with both Williams having made it through to Q2 this week. he held the top spot initially until Fernando Alonso went quicker, and then it was Piastri on top., then Sainz, and then Norris quicker still on 1:27.432s.
Verstappen wasn't in the mix at this point, possibly concerned about damage from his Q1 mishap. Russell was only tenth on a used set of softs compared to Hamilton who was straight into P3 ahead of a great second lap from Albon. A new lap fro Alonso put the Aston Martin on top, and Verstappen was finally showing his true speed to go second.
A new sequence of flying laps saw first Sainz then Piastri go top, then it was Hulkenberg who found an extra tenth to go quicker than Piastri. Under pressure from Russell who was mired in the bottom five, but his next lap on new tyres put the Mercedes into P1 just ahead of Hamilton. When Norris went to the top on 1:26.559s it meant an all-British top three again as we'd seen in FP3 - until Piastri crashed the party in second.
Final fliers saw Russell back into P2 ahead of Alonso, Verstappen safe but not convincing in sixth, and a late improvement from Lance Stroll putting Leclerc into the drop zone in 11th to join Sargeant, Tsunoda, Zhou Guanyu and Daniel Ricciardo watching the final round from the sidelines.
With no more rain due, there was no rush at the start of Q3. Just over ten minutes to go Albon took point with Verstappen dropping in behind him, and soon the rest were prodded into action in turn.
Verstappen set the initial marker but the McLarens were immediately quicker, Norris going top on 1:26.030s. That was a little too hot for Hamilton to match, but Russell found six thousandths to restore the all-Brit top three again ahead of Piastri and Verstappen as everyone headed back to pit lane for new tyres.
One final salvo saw a frenzy of increasingly fast laps saw Verstappen nudge ahead of Piastri and divide the McLarens. Hamilton seemed to have clinched pole with his final bid only to be pipped by his team mate Russell. It was a Mercedes lock-out and a memorable all-British top three for the first time since 1962, with Norris sharing the second row with Verstappen.
Piastri will start from fifth next to Hulkenberg, Sainz only seventh alongside Stroll who faces a stewards investigation for leaving the pit lane under a red light in Q1. Albon and Alonso round out the top ten on the grid.
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The post Russell, Hamilton and Norris sweep top three in British GP quali appeared first on F1i.com.
