F1: Max Verstappen storms to British GP pole over Norris
–by Mark Cipolloni–
To the disappointment of the British fans, Dutch Superstar Max Verstappen turned a lap of 1m26.720 to win the pole for Sunday’s British GP in his Red Bull Honda.
The best driver in the world beat the crowd favorite in the #4 McLaren – British driver Lando Norris, by 0.241s at the famous Silverstone circuit.
On his first try in Q3 Verstappen put up a lap of 1m27.084s to beat Hamilton by a whopping 0.633s
Then on everyone’s 2nd go in Q3 Norris beat Verstappen’s original time with a 1m26.961s but Verstappen deflated the British crowd with a lap of 1m26.720s to take his 5th straight F1 pole.
“It’s been quite a crazy qualifying,” said Max Verstappen. who has won 21 of his last 28 F1 races
“It’s been quite hectic and quite slippery in places, but we did our laps. In Q3 I was surprised to see those two there [Norris and Piastri] but great for McLaren.”
Oscar Piastri was third to give McLaren 2nd and 3rd position and ahead of the Ferrari’s and both Mercedes. No one was betting on that McLaren performance in qualifying today.
“Pretty insane. My last lap was a good lap. I could hear Zak on the radio on the in lap, which is the best thing ever,” said Norris to the cheers of the crowd.
“It’s always Max [Verstappen]. He always ruins everything for everyone,” to the boos of the partisan crowd because he was just too good for their British drivers once again.
“What a qualifying session,” said Piastri. “We were almost out in Q1 and Q2 but the car was like a rocket ship in Q3.”
How good is Verstappen? His teammate Sergio Perez did not even make it out of Q1 again. Verstappen is carrying the Red Bull.
Charles Leclerc was 4th for Ferrari, 0.416s behind, while last year’s British GP winner Carlos Sainz Jr. rounded out the top-5.
George Russell beat Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton to go 6th, while Hamilton will line up 7th, 0.491s behind the Dutchman.
You get the sense that one man who would be disappointed is Fernando Alonso, with P9. For so much of this season, he and Aston Martin have been the best of the rest behind Red Bull. But with the upgrades delivering for other teams right now, that battle behind the Red Bulls is really tight.
Qualifying Results
POS. | DRIVER | NAT. | TEAM | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 |
1 | Max Verstappen | NED | Oracle Red Bull Racing | 1m29.428s | 1m27.702s | 1m26.720s |
2 | Lando Norris | GBR | McLaren F1 Team | 1m28.917s | 1m28.042s | 1m26.961s |
3 | Oscar Piastri | AUS | McLaren F1 Team | 1m29.874s | 1m27.845s | 1m27.092s |
4 | Charles Leclerc | MON | Scuderia Ferrari | 1m29.143s | 1m28.361s | 1m27.136s |
5 | Carlos Sainz | ESP | Scuderia Ferrari | 1m29.865s | 1m28.265s | 1m27.148s |
6 | George Russell | GBR | Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team | 1m29.412s | 1m28.782s | 1m27.155s |
7 | Lewis Hamilton | GBR | Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team | 1m29.415s | 1m28.545s | 1m27.211s |
8 | Alex Albon | THA | Williams Racing | 1m29.466s | 1m28.067s | 1m27.530s |
9 | Fernando Alonso | ESP | Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant Formula One Team | 1m29.949s | 1m28.368s | 1m27.659s |
10 | Pierre Gasly | FRA | BWT Alpine F1 Team | 1m29.533s | 1m28.751s | 1m27.689s |
11 | Nico Hulkenberg | GER | MoneyGram Haas F1 Team | 1m29.603s | 1m28.896s | – |
12 | Lance Stroll | CAN | Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant Formula One Team | 1m29.448s | 1m28.935s | – |
13 | Esteban Ocon | FRA | BWT Alpine F1 Team | 1m29.700s | 1m28.956s | – |
14 | Logan Sargeant | USA | Williams Racing | 1m29.873s | 1m29.031s | – |
15 | Valtteri Bottas | FIN | Alfa Romeo F1 Team Stake | 1m29.798s | No Time Set | – |
16 | Sergio Perez | MEX | Oracle Bull Racing | 1m29.968s | – | – |
17 | Yuki Tsunoda | JPN | Scuderia AlphaTauri | 1m30.025s | – | – |
18 | Zhou Guanyu | CHN | Alfa Romeo F1 Team Stake | 1m30.123s | – | – |
19 | Nyck de Vries | NED | Scuderia AlphaTauri | 1m30.513s | – | – |
20 | Kevin Magnussen | DEN | MoneyGram Haas F1 Team | 1m32.378s | – | – |