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British Grand Prix qualifying results: Hamilton takes first-ever F1 sprint pole

Lewis Hamilton took pole position for the first-ever Formula 1 sprint event at Silverstone on Friday, ahead of Sunday’s British Grand Prix – the tenth round of the 2021 F1 world championship season.

Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes W12

Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes W12

Uncredited

Mercedes driver Hamilton will start the sprint qualifying race ahead of Max Verstappen (Red Bull) and Valtteri Bottas (Mercedes) after the one-hour qualifying session, which is split into three segments with five cars each being knocked out in Q1 and Q2 before the top-10 shootout of Q3.

The result of the sprint race, which takes place on Saturday, sets the grid for Sunday’s main event.

British Grand Prix qualifying results: Hamilton on sprint pole from Verstappen

Cla Driver Time Gap km/h
1 United Kingdom Lewis Hamilton 1'26.134   246.216
2 Netherlands Max Verstappen 1'26.209 0.075 246.002
3 Finland Valtteri Bottas 1'26.328 0.194 245.663
4 Monaco Charles Leclerc 1'26.828 0.694 244.248
5 Mexico Sergio Perez 1'26.844 0.710 244.203
6 United Kingdom Lando Norris 1'26.897 0.763 244.054
7 Australia Daniel Ricciardo 1'26.899 0.765 244.048
8 United Kingdom George Russell 1'26.971 0.837 243.846
9 Spain Carlos Sainz Jr. 1'27.007 0.873 243.745
10 Germany Sebastian Vettel 1'27.179 1.045 243.265
11 Spain Fernando Alonso 1'27.245 1.111 243.080
12 France Pierre Gasly 1'27.273 1.139 243.002
13 France Esteban Ocon 1'27.340 1.206 242.816
14 Italy Antonio Giovinazzi 1'27.617 1.483 242.048
15 Canada Lance Stroll 1'27.665 1.531 241.916
16 Japan Yuki Tsunoda 1'28.043 1.909 240.877
17 Finland Kimi Raikkonen 1'28.062 1.928 240.825
18 Canada Nicholas Latifi 1'28.254 2.120 240.301
19 Germany Mick Schumacher 1'28.738 2.604 238.991
20 Russian Federation Nikita Mazepin 1'29.051 2.917 238.151

What happened in Q1?

McLaren’s Lando Norris set the initial benchmark at 1m28.277s, easily eclipsed by Bottas on 1m27.487 and then Hamilton on 1m27.160s. Verstappen then showed everyone the way with 1m26.751s despite a huge slide at Club, which was 0.409s faster than Hamilton.

Hamilton improved to second place with a lap of 1m26.786s, within 0.035s of P1, thanks to a second run in the closing seconds, putting him ahead of Charles Leclerc (Ferrari), Sergio Perez (Red Bull), Daniel Ricciardo (McLaren) and Carlos Sainz Jr (Ferrari). Norris and Bottas dropped to eighth and ninth respectively.

Falling at the first hurdle were AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda, Alfa Romeo’s Kimi Raikkonen, Williams’ Nicholas Latifi, and the Haas duo of Mick Schumacher and Nikita Mazepin.

British Grand Prix Q1 results: Verstappen fastest from Hamilton

Cla Driver Chassis Laps Time Gap Interval km/h
1 Netherlands Max Verstappen Red Bull 3 1'26.751     244.465
2 United Kingdom Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 8 1'26.786 0.035 0.035 244.366
3 Monaco Charles Leclerc Ferrari 8 1'27.051 0.300 0.265 243.622
4 Mexico Sergio Perez Red Bull 8 1'27.121 0.370 0.070 243.426
5 Australia Daniel Ricciardo McLaren 10 1'27.323 0.572 0.202 242.863
6 Spain Carlos Sainz Jr. Ferrari 9 1'27.337 0.586 0.014 242.824
7 France Esteban Ocon Alpine 6 1'27.415 0.664 0.078 242.608
8 United Kingdom Lando Norris McLaren 8 1'27.444 0.693 0.029 242.527
9 Finland Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 8 1'27.487 0.736 0.043 242.408
10 Germany Sebastian Vettel Aston Martin 6 1'27.493 0.742 0.006 242.391
11 Spain Fernando Alonso Alpine 6 1'27.580 0.829 0.087 242.151
12 Italy Antonio Giovinazzi Alfa Romeo 9 1'27.595 0.844 0.015 242.109
13 France Pierre Gasly AlphaTauri 8 1'27.600 0.849 0.005 242.095
14 United Kingdom George Russell Williams 8 1'27.671 0.920 0.071 241.899
15 Canada Lance Stroll Aston Martin 6 1'28.017 1.266 0.346 240.948
16 Japan Yuki Tsunoda AlphaTauri 10 1'28.043 1.292 0.026 240.877
17 Finland Kimi Raikkonen Alfa Romeo 9 1'28.062 1.311 0.019 240.825
18 Canada Nicholas Latifi Williams 8 1'28.254 1.503 0.192 240.301
19 Germany Mick Schumacher Haas 10 1'28.738 1.987 0.484 238.991
20 Russian Federation Nikita Mazepin Haas 9 1'29.051 2.300 0.313 238.151

What happened in Q2?

In Q2 there was no tyre decision to make in terms of running the mediums for a race strategy advantage, as choice for the sprint race is free. Hamilton set the bar at 1m26.602s, 0.164s quicker than Bottas. Verstappen took away P1 with 1m26.504s, only 0.098s faster than Hamilton at that point.

On the final runs, Hamilton took P1 with 1m26.023s and while Verstappen improved his time to 1m26.315s, that was 0.292s off Hamilton’s pace. Bottas was third, ahead of Sainz, Leclerc, Perez and George Russell (Williams).

Knocked out at this point were Fernando Alonso (Alpine – by just 0.025s), Pierre Gasly (AlphaTauri), Esteban Ocon (Alpine), Antonio Giovinazzi (Alfa Romeo) and Lance Stroll (Aston Martin).

British Grand Prix Q2 results: Hamilton fastest from Verstappen

Cla Driver Chassis Laps Time Gap Interval km/h
1 United Kingdom Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 8 1'26.023     246.534
2 Netherlands Max Verstappen Red Bull 6 1'26.315 0.292 0.292 245.700
3 Finland Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 7 1'26.764 0.741 0.449 244.428
4 Spain Carlos Sainz Jr. Ferrari 6 1'26.848 0.825 0.084 244.192
5 Monaco Charles Leclerc Ferrari 6 1'26.919 0.896 0.071 243.992
6 Mexico Sergio Perez Red Bull 3 1'27.073 1.050 0.154 243.561
7 United Kingdom George Russell Williams 6 1'27.080 1.057 0.007 243.541
8 Germany Sebastian Vettel Aston Martin 3 1'27.103 1.080 0.023 243.477
9 Australia Daniel Ricciardo McLaren 6 1'27.125 1.102 0.022 243.415
10 United Kingdom Lando Norris McLaren 6 1'27.220 1.197 0.095 243.150
11 Spain Fernando Alonso Alpine 6 1'27.245 1.222 0.025 243.080
12 France Pierre Gasly AlphaTauri 6 1'27.273 1.250 0.028 243.002
13 France Esteban Ocon Alpine 6 1'27.340 1.317 0.067 242.816
14 Italy Antonio Giovinazzi Alfa Romeo 6 1'27.617 1.594 0.277 242.048
15 Canada Lance Stroll Aston Martin 6 1'27.665 1.642 0.048 241.916

What happened in Q3?

In the top-10 shootout, Bottas set the benchmark at 1m26.548s, which was immediately beaten by Hamilton on 1m26.134s and Verstappen on 1m26.306s – with Lewis faster than his title rival, who was complaining of understeer, by 0.172s.

On the final runs, Hamilton was up on his fastest time until Vale, when he suffered a huge slide and blew his final chance. Verstappen did improve to 1m26.209s but that wasn’t enough to wrest away the fastest time by 0.075s.

Bottas improved with a lap of 1m26.328s, and stayed third, while Perez set the fourth fastest time but it was deleted for exceeding track limits. That dropped him back to fifth, behind Leclerc. Norris will start the sprint from sixth, ahead of Ricciardo, Russell, Sainz and Sebastian Vettel (Aston Martin).

British Grand Prix Q3 results: Hamilton takes sprint pole

Cla Driver Chassis Laps Time Gap Interval km/h
1 United Kingdom Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 7 1'26.134     246.216
2 Netherlands Max Verstappen Red Bull 7 1'26.209 0.075 0.075 246.002
3 Finland Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 7 1'26.328 0.194 0.119 245.663
4 Monaco Charles Leclerc Ferrari 6 1'26.828 0.694 0.500 244.248
5 Mexico Sergio Perez Red Bull 6 1'26.844 0.710 0.016 244.203
6 United Kingdom Lando Norris McLaren 6 1'26.897 0.763 0.053 244.054
7 Australia Daniel Ricciardo McLaren 6 1'26.899 0.765 0.002 244.048
8 United Kingdom George Russell Williams 3 1'26.971 0.837 0.072 243.846
9 Spain Carlos Sainz Jr. Ferrari 6 1'27.007 0.873 0.036 243.745
10 Germany Sebastian Vettel Aston Martin 6 1'27.179 1.045 0.172 243.265

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