Valtteri Bottas produced a brilliant final lap to end Lewis Hamilton’s three-race pole streak and take P1 on the grid for Sunday’s 70th Anniversary Grand Prix.
The Finn led the first two parts of qualifying at Silverstone and then, even when it seemed his Mercedes teammate had saved his best until last in Q3, this time it wasn’t quite enough as the 31-year-old struck back to claim his 13th pole in Formula 1.
Once again it was pure domination from the German manufacturer, as the sat almost a second clear of the field.
But it was Nico Hulkenberg who came on top for Racing Point in an intense battle for third.
Q1
Bottas pips Hamilton in P1 he opts to do three flying laps versus two for his teammate and just one for Verstappen in third and an impressive Hulkenberg in fourth for Racing Point.
The battle to make the top 15 saw Alex Albon, Sebastian Vettel and Lance Stroll under the most pressure to improve, but all thee would find enough pace to make it through relatively safely.
George Russell recovered from being blocked on his second run by Esteban Ocon entering the Wellington Straight with his final effort just fast enough to make it four straight Q2 appearances in 15th.
Instead, it was Daniil Kvyat who rued running wide through Chapel and at Stowe as he just missed out in P16.
Kevin Magnussen followed in 17th as Nicholas Latifi demoting both Alfa Romeo’s onto the back row, with Kimi Raikkonen slowest overall for the second time in three races.
Q2
As expected teams avoided the soft tyre with most opting for the medium compound.
Bottas remained fastest as Hulkenberg improved to second with his final lap ahead of Hamilton.
Verstappen went for the hard tyre in the Red Bull, and the gamble just paid off as he made it through in ninth.
Instead, it was Esteban Ocon who perhaps has the benefit of free tyre choice in 11th.
Not even the soft tyre could get Sebastian Vettel into the top 10 in 12th for Ferrari, with the German three-tenths slower than teammate Charles Leclerc despite giving it “all I had”.
Carlos Sainz will also be disappointed in 13th for McLaren, while Romain Grosjean and Russell completed the top 15.
Q3
Unsurprisingly, when it mattered most, Hamilton turned up the wick with an impressive 1m25.2s to be a tenth clear of Bottas after the first run.
As Mercedes shifted back to the softs, Ricciardo continued to use the medium compound and went third with Hulkenberg fourth on the supposed fastest rubber.
Red Bull also opted for the mediums but dropped to fifth and sixth.
Ironically, despite the mixed results for others, Mercedes would switch to the medium for their final run.
And Bottas would respond to snatch his second pole of the season by just 0.063s from his world champion teammate.
Hulkenberg improved to clinch in the Racing Point, perhaps putting that highly elusive first F1 podium within reach on Sunday.
To do that he’ll have to beat Verstappen who jumped up to fourth as Ricciardo slipped to fifth.
Stroll was another mover on the final lap claiming sixth ahead of Pierre Gasly in a strong seventh fo AlphaTauri.
Leclerc will be disappointed in eighth, as will Albon after dropping to ninth as others improved.
Lando Norris rounded out the top 10 in the McLaren.
Another Mercedes masterclass in qualifying, but this time it’s Bottas who’ll have the chance to try and reclaim some of the lost points from last Sunday if he can beat Hamilton again on Sunday.
