Max Verstappen took a shock pole position at the British Grand Prix after both McLaren drivers squandered their final laps of Q3.
Verstappen had flown under the radar in the lead-up to his pole lap, the Dutchman having been unhappy with the balance of his car all weekend.
“The car is just so difficult,” he radioed his team after his first lap of Q3, which put him provisionally fourth and 0.272 off the then leader, Oscar Piastri.
The pole battle seemed destined to come down to a fight between Piastri, Lando Norris and the resurgent Lewis Hamilton, whose Ferrari came alive late in Q2 to present as a genuine challenger after a strong series of practice sessions.
But all three would-be pole-getters wasted their final laps.
Norris was first over the line but got too greedy over the curbs, leaving him unable to improve. Piastri followed, but a mistake exiting the final turn transformed a marginal improvement into a deficit.
Hamilton was presented with an open goal, but the Ferrari driver failed to execute into the Vale chicane, leaving him down on his first lap. It appeared to decide pole in Piastri’s favor, but Verstappen, the penultimate car on track, was stringing together a magical lap.
The Dutchman went purple in the first two sectors to put himself comfortably clear of the field, so much so that even a failure to improve in the final split did his pole bid no damage. He crossed the line 0.103s to the good over Piastri to take his first pole since the Miami Grand Prix.
“It was tricky out there with the wind throughout the whole qualifying,” he said. “Around here with these cars they’re extremely sensitive to it. I just tried to tidy it up through the whole qualifying, and that final lap was good enough.
“This is a proper track in qualifying when you have to go flat out, all these corners, you have to be really committed, and that’s really enjoyable.”
Piastri rued the small margins that left him unable to improve, the Australian admitting that the team hasn’t fully understood its performance envelope this weekend.
“I was happy with the first lap,” he said. “The first lap was mega, to be honest – I was trying to think of how I was going to go faster than it, and I didn’t.
“The last lap was a little bit messy, but it’s been tight all weekend, and I think the first lap was very good. The team’s done a great job, tried a lot of things this weekend, trying to get a bit more pace. The car felt mega all weekend, but there have been a few points where we’ve been scratching our heads why we’re not quicker.”
Norris was upbeat despite being set to start third on the grid, with the home favorite forecasting a close race on Sunday after qualifying just 0.015s behind his teammate.
“I’m not going to be unhappy with a third,” he said. “Not quick enough for us today, but it was a fun qualifying.
“Little margins, little mistakes, little things — you’re talking a couple of hundredths here or there can win or lose you the game today.
“I think it’s going to be fun tomorrow. I think it’s going to be a good battle between the three of us — probably more. It’s going to be an interesting Sunday.”
George Russell was superb to qualify fourth in a Mercedes that had looked recalcitrant to perform all weekend, the Briton lapping only 0.137s off pole as a shock late contender. He relegated Hamilton to fifth, the Ferrari driver 0.203s off the pace and 0.026s ahead of teammate Charles Leclerc, the team disappointed that its pre-qualifying pace hadn’t translated to the battle for pole.
Andrea Kimi Antonelli qualified seventh but will start 109th after serving his three-place grid penalty for crashing into Verstappen at last weekend’s Austrian Grand Prix.
Oliver Bearman was an excellent eighth for Haas but will serve a 10-place penalty for crashing under red flags during FP3, demoting him to 18th.
Fernando Alonso was ninth quickest for Aston Martin ahead of Pierre Gasly in his second consecutive Q3 appearance for Alpine in 10th
Carlos Sainz was the lead Williams, knocked out 11th and only 0.035s short of a Q3 berth.
Yuki Tsunoda faded to 12th, the Japanese driver more than half a second slower than Verstappen when he was knocked out in Q2. It’s the fifth grand prix in succession Tsunoda hasn’t made the top 10 in qualifying.
Isack Hadjar was 13th for Racing Bulls ahead of Williams driver Alex Albon, who lamented that he and the team had “made it difficult for ourselves” with what appeared to be a set-up gamble, while Esteban Ocon qualified 15th for Haas.
Liam Lawson was knocked out 16th, missing out on Q2 by 0.112s after running wide exiting Stowe and committed scruffily to the Vale chicane.
Gabriel Bortoleto’s Sauber was repaired following his late FP3 crash but was good enough for only 17th, the Brazilian rookie beating Lance Stroll and Nico Hulkenberg.
Colapinto was eliminated last after crashing out of Q1. The under-pressure Argentine, whose seat is linked to Mercedes reserve driver Valtteri Bottas, lost control of his car attempting to power out of the final corner over the curbs.
His Alpine spun into the gravel and tagged the barrier with its right-front tire, and though Colapinto was able to limp back onto the circuit, he was forced to park at pit exit to withdraw from the session, causing a red flag to collect his stricken car and clear the circuit.
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