Qualifications – Great Britain: Fourth consecutive pole for Lewis Hamilton

Q1:

After the two Manor cars set the initial times of the session, it is Lewis Hamilton who takes to the track with hard tires. He will quickly be beaten by his teammate, Nico Rosberg, who completes a lap in 1:33.654. They will only come back out at the end of the session, but still with the same type of tires.

It will be the McLarens that start using the medium tires in an attempt to qualify for Q2. Without success, Alonso ranks 17th ahead of Button in 18th. Only the Manors do worse.

It will be Kimi Räikkönen on his final lap who sets the fastest time in Q1. Despite this, it’s clear that after 18 minutes, it’s the Williams cars that are most capable of challenging the Mercedes.

The eliminated: Nasr, Alonso, Button, Stevens, Merhi.

Q2:

Despite the public’s encouragement for their compatriot, Lewis Hamilton once again finds himself behind Rosberg, due to a slight oversteer in the Luffield curve.

Author of a spin in Q1, Max Verstappen repeatedly complained about the behavior of his car. Unable to improve, he is 13th. Similarly, Romain Grosjean suffered from a very unstable car and could do no better than 12th.

The eliminated: Perez, Grosjean, Verstappen, Maldonado, Ericsson.

Q3:

In light of previous performances, it’s Nico Rosberg who seems best placed to secure pole position. As often, everything was decided in the first three minutes of Q3. First Räikkönen with 1:33.379, then Bottas with 1:33.149, then Hamilton… 1:32.248. Rosberg couldn’t do anything, finishing just over a tenth behind the Briton. Massa completes the top 3, eight tenths behind the poleman. Further back, the Ferraris of Räikkönen and Vettel finish 5th and 6th respectively, despite showing promising form during free practice.

Hamilton thus claims his eighth win of the season, in front of a crowd that didn’t stop cheering for their idol. With 46 pole positions, he becomes the sole third-best in qualifying, behind Michael Schumacher and Ayrton Senna.