Max Verstappen produced a dominant showing in the final free practice session for the 2022 British Grand Prix, but with rain showers expected for the qualifying session, a hugely dramatic shootout for pole appeared likely. And as expected torrential rain was falling and the wind was swirling as we started the qualifying session. Talk about a classic British summer!
This downpour should spiced up qualifying a treat. Drivers did got a chance to test out Silverstone in the wet yesterday – but few completed many laps! With the rain falling we have got a significantly lower track temperature than we saw earlier in P3.
Q1 was therefore underway. 18 minutes with five slowest drivers eliminated afterwards. We had 18 of 20 cars out on track immediately, with the Alpines of Fernando Alonso and Esteban Ocon the only cars remaining in the pits. Charles Leclerc posted the opening time to beat – a 1:47.5. Almost 20 seconds down on what we saw earlier! He followed that up with a 1:43.028 – and these kept improving as the rain stopped.
Max Verstappen then lead with a 1:40.452, as Charles Leclerc was three tenths off, with George Russell a second off in third for Mercedes, as Lando Norris was told by McLaren that the rain was easing off and “that could be it for this session”. Lewis Hamilton was momentarily looking in a slightly perilous position as he sat 13th, but shot up the timesheet to second. Disaster for Aston Martin with Lance Stroll slowest of all and Sebastian Vettel 18th – as the former Ferrari driver didn’t get to the line in time to start another lap. Pierre Gasly and Daniel Ricciardo both clambered out of the drop zone in the closing stages, as did Esteban Ocon. Alex Albon improved late on, but only enough for 16th. Both Haas cars also out.
All 15 cars – on intermediates – were almost immediately out on track, with the Mercedes pair the last to join the action. Max Verstappen continued his imperious form in the opening round of Q2 laps. He was a second clear of Red Bull team-mate Sergio Perez in second. It was getting wetter but drivers were still finding improvements and Lewis Hamilton went second, four tenths off Verstappen. Disaster avoided seemingly for Carlos Sainz – he went up to fourth despite the poor conditions. Pierre Gasly (AlphaTauri), Valtteri Bottas (Alfa Romeo), Yuki Tsunoda (AlphaTauri), Daniel Ricciardo (McLaren) and Esteban Ocon (Alpine) were out in Q2. The big surprise heading into Q3 was Nicholas Latifi in the Williams, while Zhou Guanyu was also through.
The rain had momentarily relented and we had a drying track once more, in the start of Q3. This made for a thrilling 12-minute shootout! As the first flying laps began, drivers were informed that the rain could return at the end of the session.
Max Verstappen ruined his lap with a spin: he was going well on his lap but spun 360, somehow managing to keep his car on the track. He stayed out for another lap. Charles Leclerc goes fastest, and Max Verstappen was up to second, but the world championship leader continued on the circuit and went fastest as the track continued to improve. Lewis Hamilton was just a couple of tenths back from the Dutchman in second, with George Russell third. Charles was momentarily took second, but Hamilton snatched it back with a time that was just 0.027s off Verstappen. The track was still constantly improving and this was going down to the wire!
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Carlos Sainz went fastest, was swiftly outpaced by his Maranello team-mate Charles Leclerc, but then Max Verstappen retook the lead. The chequered flag was waived and the final laps were ongoing. With a final amazing attempt, Carlos Sainz took a stunning pole position ahead of Max Verstappen! It’s the first pole of the Ferrari driver’s career, and comes at the end of a session where he looked to be off the pace. The other Ferrari of Charles Leclerc is third, with Sergio Perez fourth, as Lewis Hamilton can only manage fifth for Mercedes.
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