Sainz takes first pole position Q1 – Haas and Aston Martins both withdraw as rain soaks Silverstone With just 10 minutes to go before qualifying begins, a slew of the once-reliable British rain Clouds spat out their contents at Silverstone, prompting all teams to jump on semi-wet

Sainz takes pole position for the first time

Q1 – Haas and Aston Martins both withdraw from the race as rain soaks Silverstone

With just 10 minutes to go before qualifying starts, a host of once The trusty British rain clouds spat out their contents at Silverstone, prompting all teams to jump on semi-wet tyres - causing huge traffic jams before the green lights as drivers looked to lap the track, In case the rain intensifies.

As it happened, the rain actually subsided throughout the opening section, leaving a dry line around the iconic 3.6-mile circuit as Verstappen set the early benchmark with a 1:40.452, After a tour it improved to 1 minute 39.975 seconds, 0.655 seconds faster than Le Carlisle.

The question now is, has the track improved enough for the team to adapt to the slippery surface? But ultimately, while the track is improving, it's not enough for treadless tires.

As the clock ticked down to zero in the 18-minute qualifying opener, Le Carlisle fired back at Verstappen to briefly take top spot, but was cut short by Verstappen's perfect all-purple sector lap. Leading by 0.717 seconds, Russell was 3rd, 0.899 seconds ahead of Sainz, Hamilton and Perez.

Ricardo was in danger of an embarrassing Q1 exit when a last-ditch effort lifted him to 14th. At Williams, Latifi entered the second quarter in 15th for the first time this season despite not being equipped with a ton of upgrades from his teammates, Albon was out 0.08 seconds off in 16th and took advantage of the cooling on Williams Sorry for the strategy of looping instead of continuing to work hard.

Weather reflects the mood of Haas and Aston Martin Meanwhile, Vettel expressed his disapproval of a series of steering wheel knocks as both teams lost both cars in the first quarter of frustration.

Knockout round: Albon, Magnussen, Vettel, Mick, Stroll

Albon took an early shower

Second quarter - Latifi made his debut in the third quarter at the expense of Ocon and Rika Much

Now everyone is trying to understand how the weather will change during the rest of qualifying - The airwaves are filled with different meteorological opinions from engineers...

It turns out that the rainfall throughout the second quarter will A steady increase, meaning those drivers who get a good result a lap ahead of the track will have a clear advantage. Verstappen took the lead again, with a lap of 1:40.655, about a second and a half slower than his Q1 time, with Hamilton - a man who knows a thing or two about grinding Silverstone in the wet. ——Entered second place, leading by 0.407 seconds.

With the checkered flag flying in the second quarter, the timetable was a sea of ​​​​yellow, and none of the last five riders in the elimination zone made any progress in their final efforts. This meant Ocon found his place in 15th, a spot for Ricciardo at McLaren. Toro Rosso and Bottas have both withdrawn from the race - although given their pace difficulties this weekend, with Gasly in 11th and Tsunoda in 13th, that's probably not a bad thing.

Latifi was one driver who performed well on the first lap, which was enough to send the Williams driver, who was under intense pressure, into Q3 for the first time in his career, finishing 10th just behind China Driver Guanyu Zhou , and Guanyu Zhou continued his impressive performance as the only Alpha driver in the top ten.

Therefore, in the third quarter, Red Bull , Ferrari and Mercedes all qualified, as well as McLaren's Norris, Albion's Alonso and the aforementioned Zhou Guanyu and Latifi. .

Elimination Round: Gasly, Bottas, Tsunoda, Ricciardo, Ocon

Ricciardo stops in the second quarter



Q3 – Sainz takes pole position for the first time as Verstappen and Le Carlisle spin

Wet tires The remained the hottest tire in Q3 and as the drivers headed towards the slippery Silverstone circuit, there was talk on the team radio that the showers were set to intensify further.It seems to have everyone's support again.

Verstappen looked to be setting one up when he spun wildly out and his RB18 performed a neat spin. Was he panicked? No, as he hit two purple fans on his way to 2nd, then improved to 1:42.966 on his second effort. "Expect more rain, keep pushing," Verstappen was told, and the Dutchman duly dipped his foot in and kept tapping.

With two minutes left, Verstappen came from Hamilton and Le Carlisle, and the three of them seemed ready to fight for the spoils in qualifying. But Sainz came out of nowhere and has been flying under the radar since taking the lead in FP2 on Friday afternoon. As time ticked away, Sainz took the checkered flag, a lap that was enough to qualify as provisional pole position.

Verstappen and Le Carlisle soon fell behind, but then Le Carlisle spun at Turn 14 and a yellow flag forced Verstappen to lift pole, handing pole position to Sainz.

When Spaniard learned of his victory, he responded in disbelief: "I'm so terrible out there! How did I get P1?!"

"You put it together like one smooth operation "Commander!" his engineer replied with a smile.

Sainz made his pole-sitter debut

There were jubilant scenes in the Ferrari garage as Ferrari celebrated their popular charge in Spain. Verstappen was pleased with the performance of P2, who was only 0.072 seconds behind in qualifying, with Le Carlisle in third, ahead of Perez.

Hamilton looked like a threat on the front row but ultimately finished fifth "outright" to team-mate Russell in eighth on a day that Mercedes admits was a bit disappointing - consider to their upgrade kit for the W13.

are "very happy" with Norris and Alonso among the Silver Arrows. Zhou Guanyu was a good driver in ninth, and Latifi made a big turn at Turn 1 of the third quarter. The Canadian luckily escaped without any damage, leaving him only tenth in the end.

Sainz was congratulated by former champion Mansell

"First of all, thank you to all the spectators for cheering and to everyone for standing outside in this rain. Spaniards, we struggled a little bit in this rain but you can say you have Got used to it. Thanks for coming, it was a good lap but I was struggling with the water - there was more water in the middle track

" Finally I finished. After a lap, I decided it was nothing special and just put it on the board to see what it looked like. Pole position, which is a bit surprising...if I base it on my FP2 pace, we should be in a good position, try to hold on to it. I'm sure Verstappen and Le Carlisle will put a lot of pressure on me, but of course I'll give my best. ” – Ferrari’s Sainz.