F1 British GP: Verstappen grabs surprise pole as he fractionally beats McLarens

Max Verstappen stormed to a surprise British Grand Prix pole position with a stunning final lap that was enough to beat both McLaren Formula 1 drivers.

With Ferrari, and Lewis Hamilton in particular, seeming the most likely to challenge Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris, it was instead reigning world champion Verstappen who put in a final lap of 1m24.892s to snatch top spot.

Championship leader Piastri will start on the front row after a small error on his last effort left him unable to improve, with Norris the top of the home favourites but only able to go third fastest for McLaren.

He will head an all-British second row as George Russell was fourth for Mercedes.

Ferrari had threatened to steal McLaren’s thunder following a strong start to the weekend but Hamilton could only manage fifth due to a scrappy final sector on his last flying lap, while the sister Ferrari of Charles Leclerc will start alongside.

Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari

Photo by: Glenn Dunbar / LAT Images via Getty Images

Rookies Andrea Kimi Antonelli and Oliver Bearman were next up but both have penalties for the race, with Antonelli dropping three places following his crash into Verstappen in Austria last week, while Bearman was hit with a 10-place penalty for the second time this season due to a red-flag infringement in FP3.

Fernando Alonso took ninth for Aston Martin but will be pleased to start seventh, alongside the Alpine of Pierre Gasly.

Ferrari looked in minor peril towards the end of Q2 but had saved a fresh set of tyres for both drivers, who delivered under the pressure of one lap, Hamilton just pipping Leclerc for the fastest time.

It was not to be for Williams, however, with Carlos Sainz coming home 11th and Alex Albon 14th, while the second Red Bull of Yuki Tsunoda and Isack Hadjar of Racing Bulls were also knocked out – although the penalties for Antonelli and Bearman at least boost some further up the grid.

With continuing question marks over Franco Colapinto’s seat at Alpine, the last thing the Argentinian needed was to crash out in Q1 to end his qualifying prematurely – especially with Gasly’s performance on the other side of the garage.

Having spun off at the final corner, he initially kept the car running and got back on track after minimal contact with the wall, but – as Alpine advisor Flavio Briatore put his head in his hands – the red flag was brought out as Colapinto’s car came to a halt and required rescue.

The other drivers eliminated in Q1 were Liam Lawson, who ran wide in his Racing Bull on his final flying lap, while Lance Stroll's Aston Martin was sandwiched between the Sauber entries of Gabriel Bortoleto and Nico Hulkenberg.

F1 British GP results - qualifying

Main Information Additional Data Driver Info

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Main Information Additional Data 1  -  2
Cla	Driver	#		Chassis	Engine	Time	Tyres	km/h
1	M. Verstappen Red Bull Racing	1		Red Bull	Red Bull	1'24.892		249.818
2	O. Piastri McLaren	81		McLaren	Mercedes	+0.103 1'24.995		249.515
3	L. Norris McLaren	4		McLaren	Mercedes	+0.118 1'25.010		249.471
4	G. Russell Mercedes	63		Mercedes	Mercedes	+0.137 1'25.029		249.416
5	L. Hamilton Ferrari	44		Ferrari	Ferrari	+0.203 1'25.095		249.222
6	C. Leclerc Ferrari	16		Ferrari	Ferrari	+0.229 1'25.121		249.146
7	F. Alonso Aston Martin Racing	14		Aston Martin	Mercedes	+0.729 1'25.621		247.691
8	P. Gasly Alpine	10		Alpine	Renault	+0.893 1'25.785		247.218
9	C. Sainz Williams	55		Williams	Mercedes	+0.854 1'25.746		247.330
10	A. Antonelli Mercedes	12		Mercedes	Mercedes	+0.482 1'25.374		248.408
11	Y. Tsunoda Red Bull Racing	22		Red Bull	Red Bull	+0.934 1'25.826		247.099
12	I. Hadjar RB	6		RB	Honda	+0.972 1'25.864		246.990
13	A. Albon Williams	23		Williams	Mercedes	+0.997 1'25.889		246.918
14	E. Ocon Haas F1 Team	31		Haas	Ferrari	+1.058 1'25.950		246.743
15	L. Lawson RB	30		RB	Honda	+1.548 1'26.440		245.344
16	G. Bortoleto Sauber	5		Sauber	Ferrari	+1.554 1'26.446		245.327
17	L. Stroll Aston Martin Racing	18		Aston Martin	Mercedes	+1.612 1'26.504		245.163
18	O. Bearman Haas F1 Team	87		Haas	Ferrari	+0.579 1'25.471		248.126
19	N. Hulkenberg Sauber	27		Sauber	Ferrari	+1.682 1'26.574		244.965
20	F. Colapinto Alpine	43		Alpine	Renault	+2.168 1'27.060		243.597
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