Red Bull’s Max Verstappen pipped McLaren’s Oscar Piastri to pole position at the British Grand Prix with the very last lap of qualifying.
Verstappen beat Piastri by 0.103 seconds, with McLaren’s Lando Norris just 0.015secs behind in third and Mercedes George Russell a further 0.019secs adrift in fourth.
Lewis Hamilton, second quickest behind Piastri after the first runs in final qualifying, slipped back to fifth at the end, just ahead of his Ferrari team-mate Charles Leclerc.
Briton Oliver Bearman was an excellent eighth for Haas, but will be demoted to 18th on the grid because of a 10-place penalty for going too fast under red-flag conditions in practice, when he crashed in the pit lane.
That promotes Fernando Alonso’s Aston Martin from ninth. Alpine’s Pierre Gasly completed the top 10.
Verstappen had had a low-key lead up to qualifying but ended up fastest, on a track that on paper should suit the Red Bull, which is at its strongest in comparison to the rest of the field in the sort of high-speed corners that abound at Silverstone.
The Dutchman said: “It was tricky with the wind throughout all qualifying. It was shifting around a bit. And around here with these cars it is extremely sensitive to it.
“The final lap was good enough. This is a proper track, you have to be really committed in the high-speed corners.”
Verstappen said he “had to commit a lot” in the high-speed corners because of the low-downforce set-up the team had chosen, which made the car on edge in the demanding corners.
Piastri was quickest after the first laps of qualifying but he failed to improve on his second lap, at least partly because of a couple of slides of the rear out of the final corner, Club.
The championship leader said: “I was happy with the first lap. It was mega, to be honest. I was trying to think of how I would go faster and I didn’t.
“The second lap was a bit messy but it has been tight all weekend; a little on the table, but we’ll never know if it’s enough.”
Norris, who trails Piastri by 15 points going into the race, which marks the halfway point of the season, said: “Good qualifying. I am not going to be unhappy with third, would love to be pole but Max did a good job, a fun qualifying today. Not the top but still a good day.
“It’s going to be fun tomorrow, a good fight, with the three of us, and probably with Lewis and Charles and George as well.”
Top 10
1. Max Verstappen (Red Bull)
2. Oscar Piastri (McLaren)
3. Lando Norris (McLaren)
4. George Russell (Mercedes)
5. Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari)
6. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari)
7. Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes, three-place grid penalty)
8. Oliver Bearman (Haas, 10-place grid penalty)
9. Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin)
10. Pierre Gasly (Alpine)
By BBC News
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