George Russell led the pack during F1 Qualifying for the 2024 British GP. The Briton set a Pole position lap time of 1:25.819 with teammate and fellow Briton Lewis Hamilton in P2 with a 1:25.990. Lando Norris of McLaren will start P3 after setting a 1:26.030.
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Lando Norris topped the Friday practice sessions, with Mercedes appearing his closest challengers during this morning’s practice session. George Russell led the pack with Lewis Hamilton behind him in P2 and Norris third.
While adverse weather conditions have impacted the day thus far with the F3 Sprint Race postponed to 18:00 BST and the F2 Sprint Race stopped and started, the sun shone just in time for Qualifying. The circuit was still damp so it was all to play for.
F1 Qualifying: 2024 British GP
Q1
Several drivers headed straight for the circuit on Intermediate tyres. Bottas reported that a “small dry line” was forming already, likely indicating that we could witness dry tyres in Q1.
As the opening hot laps came in, Verstappen was fastest, two tenths ahead of home heroes Hamilton and Russell. He set a lap time of 1:37.518.
Norris experienced a big slide on his first hot lap on the exit of Luffield, which hurt his lap time. Despite this, he slotted into P2 +0.089 behind Verstappen. This boded well for McLaren and Norris in the fight for his first Pole position at his home race of Silverstone.
Half of the circuit appeared to be dry while the back was wet. The Intermediate tyres were cooking quickly and with this, Stake F1 risked the Slicks with Bottas while Ferrari switched Leclerc’s over.
As teams changed strategy to suit track conditions, Mercedes took a 1-2 position with seven-time Pole sitter Hamilton in P1 with a 1:37.134.
With seven minutes and 30 seconds left on the clock, Pérez spun and was stuck in the gravel, raising a red flag. As he was unable to recover, he was out of Qualifying. He sat in P10 therefore could be safe from a bottom five start. This is not what Red Bull would have wanted considering the Constructor’s Championship is closing in on them.
The rain began to fall unexpectedly and Hülkenberg took his chances to go P1. However, all eyes were on Verstappen as he went off at Copse much like Pérez earlier. He managed to drive through the gravel and save his session.
The bad news kept coming for Red Bull as Pérez was demoted to the drop zone after all drivers were finding more lap time. Hamilton, who has mastered the art of driving in the rain, went quickest by half a second to complete another Mercedes one-two.
Out in Q1 was Gasly (+10.257), Pérez (+8.802), Ocon (+5.010), Magnussen (+3.358), and Bottas (+2.884).
Q2
Opening laps began flying in and Norris sat at the top on a 1:27.432. Sainz was second and just over one-tenth adrift from his former teammate. These are the results the seatless driver needs.
It was good news for Mercedes as Hamilton was showing series pace. He went third fastest on a set of used soft tyres. To put it into context, Verstappen sat in P8 on a new set but the Dutchman did have floor damage from his Q1 mishap.
News was not all good, however, as Leclerc was struggling in his Ferrari. The cool conditions saw him sit P9 despite green sectors all over the rest of the grid.
McLaren were back to maximising their pace as Piastri found a considerable amount of time and took the top spot. He was the first driver of the day to hit the 1:26s. This did not last for long as the Haas of Hülkenberg was on the attack. He set the fastest first sector and in an impressive lap jumped to the top spot, one-tenth of a second quicker than Piastri.
Three brilliant laps by the Britons Norris, Russell, and Hamilton saw Q2 set up a promising Q3. Norris was two tenths clear of the field on a 1:26.559 while Russell was only 0.004s faster than Hamilton.
The Q2 exits were Leclerc (+0.538), Sargeant (+0.616), Tsunoda (+0.710), Zhou (+1.308), and Ricciardo (+1.390).
Q3
The drivers in the fight for Pole were Norris, Russell, Alonso, Piastri, Hamilton, Verstappen, Sainz, Hülkenberg, Albon, and Stroll. Several of them looked promising as the first Q3 laps were set.
Russell set provisional pole ahead of a British 1-2-3. He went 0.006s faster than Norris and 0.172s ahead of Hamilton in third. Piastri joined the pack in fourth, further highlighting that Mercedes and McLaren will be the teams to beat during tomorrow’s race.
Drivers left the pits for their final Q3 lap. Verstappen set a slow first sector after missing the Turn 4 apex. As the track got quicker, this was bad news for Red Bull in an already dampened weekend.
Hamilton went fastest with a 1:25.990 but teammate Russell flew to a 1:25.819 to claim Pole position. Norris had a less-than-ideal final lap and pitted at the end, but despite this will start third.
It is a British 1-2-3 after F1 Qualifying 2024 British GP. This is the first since South Africa in 1986 when Clark, Hill, and Stewart impressed.
QUALIFYING CLASSIFICATION
— Formula 1 (@F1) July 6, 2024
The Silverstone fans enjoyed that! #F1 #BritishGP pic.twitter.com/9rPLH8yLRV
Image Credit: Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team
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