Q1
After a rain-hit FP3 session and some more rain in between the sessions, the start of qualifying for the British GP saw the sun come out between the clouds, but the track was still damp from the earlier weather.
Most drivers headed out on the green-walled intermediate tyres in the damp circuit. But Valtteri Bottas quickly reported back to his Sauber team that a “small” dry line was forming already on his out lap.
With the track quickly drying, Max Verstappen set the early pace on intermediates with a 1:37.518, just 0.089s clear of Lando Norris’s McLaren.
With 10 minutes remaining of the session, the drivers started fitting dry tyres, with Bottas and Charles Leclerc switching to the soft compound tyres first.
Sergio Perez was also one of the first drivers to go on slicks, but he dramatically span out of Copse and got stuck in the gravel trap, triggering the first red flag of the session with 7 minutes and 30 seconds remaining on the clock.
The Mexican tried to get a push from the marshalls, but was required to step out of his Red Bull and retire from qualifying. With the ever-drying track, that pretty much guarantees him a Q1 elimination.
With the weather promising some rain at the end of Q1, drivers queued up at the end of the pit lane, despite not even having a proper restart time for the session.
The session restarted 19 minutes past the hour, with the rain already falling down as the drivers anxiously tried to get a lap on slick tyres, with DRS disabled due to the conditions.
Lance Stroll will be investigated after the session for leaving the pit lane under the red light.
Valtteri Bottas was first in line to start a lap, smashing the fastest time by over 4.7s, setting a 1:32.431, which left him half-a-second clear of his team-mate Zhou Guanyu.
Nico Hulkenberg went fastest in the Haas, before both McLarens topped him.
After Perez went out at Copse earlier, his team-mate Max Verstappen almost joined him, running wide and into the gravel, but managed to keep going.
After lap times continued changing constantly at the end of the session as the rain initially stopped, the bottom five consisted of Bottas, Magnussen, Ocon, Perez and Gasly.
A pit lane incident involving both Aston Martin cars will be investigated after the session.
ELIMINATED IN Q1: Bottas 16th, Magnussen 17th, Ocon 18th, Perez 19th, Gasly 20th.
Q2
The FIA declared the track as “normal grip conditions” for the start of Q2 and re-enabled DRS usage.
After the initial runs, the track proved to be indeed in a much better state than at the end of Q1, with Lando Norris fastest overall with a time of a 1:27.432, a tenth clear of Sainz and Hamilton, before being replaced at the top by Fernando Alonso in his Aston Martin, which showed impressive pace all weekend long, setting a 1:27.279, leaving him ahead of Verstappen by 0.087s.
The bottom five with 6 minutes remaining on the clock, consisted of Sargeant, Russell, Tsunoda, Zhou and Ricciardo, respectively.
Oscar Piastri went fastest overall shortly after, beating Sainz by 0.204s with a 1:26.945.
He was soon replaced by Hulkenberg’s Haas, but that time wouldn’t stand for long, as both Mercedes cars and Lando Norris usurped the German at the front, with tge latter setting a 1:26.559 to go quickest with 2 minutes of the session remaining, making it momentarily an all-British top 3 at their home track.
Leclerc’s final run only got him to 7th fastest. Max Verstappen in his damaged Red Bull due to the gravel excursion earlier managed sixth fastest at the end of Q2, as the Ferrari of Leclerc got knocked out the expense of Lance Stroll’s Aston Martin, Alex Albon’s Williams and Nico Hulkenberg’s Haas.
ELIMINATED IN Q2: Leclerc 11th, Sargeant 12th, Tsunoda 13th, Zhou 14th and Ricciardo 15th.
Q3
Verstappen was the first to set a timed lap in Q3, with a time of a 1:26.350 which was quickly beaten by both McLarens, with Norris taking provisional pole by over two tenths to Piastri and three tenths to Verstappen.
After setting the fastest first sector time, Hamilton could only manage second behind Norris in the first run, before his team-mate Russell took to the front with a 1:26.024, just six milliseconds clear of the McLaren, which left the championship leader Verstappen down in fifth after the initial runs.
Behind him, Hulkenberg, Sainz, Stroll, Alonso and Albon completed the top ten, respectively, after the first laps.
With just two minutes remaining on the clock, the drivers started to queue up and exit the pits for the all important final qualifying run of the day.
Verstappen was first over the line, and could only manage fourth fastest, as Norris didn’t improve and went back to the pits.
The two Mercedes lit the timing screens up, with Lewis Hamilton going fastest initially before being beaten by his team-mate George Russell, who took his second pole position of the last four races.
Russell set a 1:25.819, just under two tenths clear of his seven-time world champion team-mate, with Norris a further tenth back in P3.
Behind him, Verstappen finished a lowly (for his standards) fourth place in his damaged RB20, ahead of Oscar Piastri and an impressive Nico Hulkenberg in P6 for Haas.
Carlos Sainz headed a disappointing Ferrari charge with P7, ahead of Stroll, Albon and Alonso.
