British Grand Prix – Qualifying: Sainz takes his first pole ahead of Verstappen and Leclerc

In a completely crazy qualifying session, Carlos Sainz secures his first pole position of his career. He is ahead of Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc. A session animated by the rain.

Q1: Latifi signs his first Q2!

Before the start of the session, rain had fallen on the Silverstone circuit. The drivers were therefore using intermediate tires. But the wet conditions did not scare them. They were constantly pushing the limits on the wet track. However, a trajectory was starting to form with the numerous passes.

Max Verstappen immediately imposed his pace with over half a second ahead of his opponents. At the end of this first part of the qualifications, the Ferraris, Red Bulls, and Mercedes remained neck and neck at the front. Behind them, Guanyu Zhou’s Alfa Romeo was setting good lap times ahead of his teammate, Valtteri Bottas. While having a difficult weekend, Pierre Gasly and Yuki Tsunoda were causing a stir by securing a spot in the top 15. But one driver managed to create a sensation this season. That driver was Nicholas Latifi. The Canadian successfully made it to Q2 for the first time this season! This pleased the community on social media.

List of eliminations in Q1: Alexander Albon, Kevin Magnussen, Sebastian Vettel, Mick Schumacher, and Lance Stroll.

Q2: The disappointing French…

The rain was getting stronger and visibility was diminishing. With five minutes left in Q2, the drivers were not improving and some were the losers. Starting with Valtteri Bottas, who was aiming for a Q3 given the level of competitiveness since the beginning of the weekend. His teammate, on the other hand, secured a place in the top 10.

But the winner, well the winner was once again Nicholas Latifi! The Canadian achieved the feat of making it into Q3. His first in his career. He clocked the tenth fastest time, pushing Pierre Gasly out of the top 10. Unsurprisingly, the Frenchman was eliminated. But he still delivered a good performance, securing the eleventh position on the grid. And the disappointment continued for the French. Esteban Ocon could only manage fifteenth place. He appeared to have suffered from a battery problem with his Alpine.

List of eliminated in Q2: Pierre Gasly, Valtteri Bottas, Yuki Tsunoda, Daniel Ricciardo, and Esteban Ocon.

Q3: Carlos Sainz, the chef’s surprise!

The Ferraris were leaving the pits in the lead, quickly followed by Max Verstappen, Guanyu Zhou, and Lewis Hamilton. And the session was about to take a whole different dimension. Fernando Alonso took the provisional pole by setting a magnificent time on his first lap. He was three seconds ahead of his pursuers.

On his side, Max Verstappen performed a nice 360 spin on his lap. And even with that, he remained three tenths of a second behind Carlos Sainz. Gradually, the track was improving significantly, and the drivers were setting fast lap times. While the engineers were predicting the return of rain, the drivers were putting in extra effort to try and secure pole position.

After a thrilling battle between Max Verstappen, Charles Leclerc, and even Lewis Hamilton, Carlos Sainz secured his first career pole position. He outpaced Max Verstappen by less than a tenth of a second, while holding onto pole position, with Charles Leclerc in third place. Both drivers missed out on their final lap, allowing the Spaniard to achieve an impressive performance.

Qualifications ranking