F1 British Grand Prix qualifying: Start time, how to watch & more

Mercedes may have dominated the opening three races, but neither F1 world championship leader Lewis Hamilton nor team-mate Valtteri Bottas topped either of the Friday practice sessions ahead of the British GP, as Lance Stroll claimed top spot honours for Racing Point in FP2.

The qualifying simulations runs in the afternoon session were stalled by a red flag for a heavy crash by Alexander Albon at Stowe, with the Red Bull driver checked over at the medical centre after sustaining an impact recorded at 20G.

Despite taking no further part in practice, Albon held on to second place in the afternoon session ahead of Bottas, with Ferrari's Charles Leclerc splitting the Mercedes pair in fourth place in front of Hamilton in fifth.

With Carlos Sainz Jr in sixth place for McLaren at the end of FP2, Nico Hulkenberg completed a "wild" 24 hours as he made his F1 comeback standing in for Sergio Perez at Racing Point, as the Mexican has been sidelined after testing positive for COVID-19.

Friday turned into a frustrating day for Sebastian Vettel as he effectively missed all of FP1 due to an intercooler problem, before being held back by a problem with his car pedals during the afternoon session. The German ended FP2 down in 18th place and over 1.5 seconds off the pace.

Max Verstappen was also off the pace, but his FP2 run on the soft tyres was hampered when he had to back off from a fast lap after coming across Romain Grosjean on a preparation lap in his Haas. The Red Bull driver finished the second practice session in 14th place.

What time does qualifying for the British Grand Prix start?

Qualifying for the British GP starts at 2pm local time (2pm BST), using the regular Q1, Q2 and Q3 knockout session format.

Date: Saturday 1 August 2020
Start time: 2pm local time - 2pm BST

How can I watch qualifying?

In the United Kingdom every F1 practice, qualifying and race is broadcast live on Sky Sports F1, with qualifying coverage starting at 1pm BST.

Channel 4 is also broadcasting the British GP live with qualifying coverage starting at 1pm BST. Autosport will be running a live text coverage of qualifying.

What's the weather forecast for qualifying at Silverstone?

Cloudy conditions with the chance of sunshine is forecast throughout Saturday at Silverstone with a small chance of rain before qualifying. Temperatures are expected to see highs of 22 degrees Celsius, which is set to be around 12 degrees cooler than FP2 was held in.

FP2 result