Max Verstappen claimed pole position for the British Grand Prix with victory in the first-ever Formula 1 Sprint Qualifying on Saturday.
The Red Bull driver pounced on a rare poor start from the Mercedes driver to take the lead into Abbey and wouldn’t look back in a controlled performance.
How it happened
A bad launch from Hamilton gave Verstappen the lead, with the Dutchman defending strongly from the Mercedes on the opening lap into Brooklands and at Copse.
LIGHTS OUT!
The first ever F1 Sprint is GO at Silverstone!#BritishGP ?? #F1 pic.twitter.com/rUj3Px9Jt6
— Formula 1 (@F1) July 17, 2021
Fernando Alonso made the best start, using soft tyres to gain six places on the opening lap up to fifth.
George Russell and Carlos Sainz also made contact at Brooklands, dropping the Ferrari driver down the field. The incident will be investigated after the race
Sergio Perez had a poor start dropping three places and his day got even worse with a big spin on the exit of Chapel, narrowly avoiding the barrier.
Dropping to the back of the field and unable to recover, Red Bull retired the Mexican to open up some more options for Sunday.
After his rocket start, Alonso gradually began to drop back as his tyres lost performance, with both McLaren’s making their way past.
LAP 9/17
Nicely done from Daniel Ricciardo as he puts a move on Fernando Alonso to take P6 – one place behind his team mate Lando Norris (P5) ?#BritishGP ?? #F1Sprint pic.twitter.com/uRDxPAWgaK
— Formula 1 (@F1) July 17, 2021
At the front, Verstappen had the pace to keep Hamilton at arm’s length, crossing the line to take the win and his fourth straight pole.
Valtteri Bottas was one of four drivers to gamble on soft tyres, but behind Hamilton, he was unable to use them and eventually fell away in third.
Charles Leclerc maintained fourth with Lando Norris gaining two places on his qualifying result in fifth, ahead of teammate Daniel Ricciardo.
Alonso held onto seventh, equalling the biggest gains of the race with Kimi Raikkonen who made up four places to 13th.
Sebastian Vettel was eighth with Russell ninth, but under investigation for the Lap 1 incident with Sainz.
Esteban Ocon also gained three places in a good Sprint for Alpine up to P10.
Sainz recovered back to P11 for Ferrari, ahead of Pierre Gasly who finished where he started in 12th.
Lance Stroll took 14th ahead of Antonio Giovinazzi and Yuki Tsunoda in 16th.
Nicholas Latifi, Mick Schumacher and Nikita Mazepin all gained a place thanks to Perez’s terrible day, the two Haas’ continuing despite contact which spun the Russian around on Lap 1.
While perhaps not the all-action thriller that some were hoping, F1 Sprint Qualifying was certainly a decent addition, particularly considering next year’s cars are designed for closer racing.
We’ll have to wait until the next trial at Monza to gain any more impressions, but for now, it has given Verstappen pole position and a 33-point lead over Hamilton heading into Sunday!
Full results can be seen below:
