Pole position qualifier Lewis Hamilton of Great Britain and Mercedes GP celebrates in parc ferme during qualifying for the F1 Grand Prix of Great Britain at Silverstone on August 01, 2020 in Northampton, England. (Photo by Will Oliver/Pool via Getty Images)
British GP: Hamilton recovers from spin to take pole
World champion Lewis Hamilton claimed his seventh British Grand Prix pole position to set a new Formula 1 record at Silverstone.
Pole position qualifier Lewis Hamilton of Great Britain and Mercedes GP celebrates in parc ferme during qualifying for the F1 Grand Prix of Great Britain at Silverstone on August 01, 2020 in Northampton, England. (Photo by Will Oliver/Pool via Getty Images)
Lewis Hamilton recovered from an underwhelming start to Saturday’s British Grand Prix qualifying session to claim his seventh Silverstone pole.
Hamilton was displeased with the car after Friday’s practice session and was unusually still making changes to his Mercedes ahead of qualifying.
Hamilton recovers from spin to take pole
The reigning world champion has admitted those tweaks subsequently made the car worse, with eveidence presented when he made a rare mistake in Q2, spinning at Luffield dragging gravel onto the track to cause a red flag.
Hamilton pulled things together later in the session and laid down a new track record lap. He is now the first driver to claim seven pole positions at his home Grand Prix, Hamilton will have another opportunity to extend his record to eight next weekend with back-to-back races being staged at Silverstone.
The World Championship standings are mirrored in the top three, with Bottas second, three tenths off the pace, and Max Verstappen in third for Red Bull, around one second adrift of Hamilton. Such was the domination of Mercedes at the Northamptonshire track that the Silver Arrows were 0.7s quicker than 2019, whereas Red Bull and Ferrari are both slower than they were in Q3 this time last year.
Ferrari pull out the stops to get fourth
Ferrari opted to strip the downforce of their car for the British Grand Prix in a bid to make up for their power deficit which helped their qualifying form as Charles Leclerc took a strong fourth, only a fraction behind Verstappen.
Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel’s miserable season continued, as he could only manage 10th, though he will at least start the race on the more durable medium tyre.
McLaren’s Lando Norris ensured two British drivers made the top five, continuing his strong start to the season as he pipped Racing Point’s Lance Stroll, with teammate Carlos Sainz two tenths further back in seventh. Both Renaults would make it to Q3, with Daniel Ricciardo edging out Esteban Ocon.
But the day belonged to Hamilton, the Briton securing his 100th front row start for Mercedes in 144 races for the team. And pole sets him up perfectly for another win on home soil, given the last six Grands Prix have been won from P1.
British GP qualifying
| POS | NO | DRIVER | CAR | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | LAPS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 44 | Lewis Hamilton | MERCEDES | 1:25.900 | 1:25.347 | 1:24.303 | 22 |
| 2 | 77 | Valtteri Bottas | MERCEDES | 1:25.801 | 1:25.015 | 1:24.616 | 17 |
| 3 | 33 | Max Verstappen | RED BULL RACING HONDA | 1:26.115 | 1:26.144 | 1:25.325 | 15 |
| 4 | 16 | Charles Leclerc | FERRARI | 1:26.550 | 1:26.203 | 1:25.427 | 16 |
| 5 | 4 | Lando Norris | MCLAREN RENAULT | 1:26.855 | 1:26.420 | 1:25.782 | 20 |
| 6 | 18 | Lance Stroll | RACING POINT BWT MERCEDES | 1:26.243 | 1:26.501 | 1:25.839 | 20 |
| 7 | 55 | Carlos Sainz | MCLAREN RENAULT | 1:26.715 | 1:26.149 | 1:25.965 | 20 |
| 8 | 3 | Daniel Ricciardo | RENAULT | 1:26.677 | 1:26.339 | 1:26.009 | 19 |
| 9 | 31 | Esteban Ocon | RENAULT | 1:26.396 | 1:26.252 | 1:26.209 | 20 |
| 10 | 5 | Sebastian Vettel | FERRARI | 1:26.469 | 1:26.455 | 1:26.339 | 20 |
| 11 | 10 | Pierre Gasly | ALPHATAURI HONDA | 1:26.343 | 1:26.501 | 12 | |
| 12 | 23 | Alexander Albon | RED BULL RACING HONDA | 1:26.565 | 1:26.545 | 11 | |
| 13 | 27 | Nico Hulkenberg | RACING POINT BWT MERCEDES | 1:26.327 | 1:26.566 | 14 | |
| 14 | 26 | Daniil Kvyat | ALPHATAURI HONDA | 1:26.774 | 1:26.744 | 12 | |
| 15 | 63 | George Russell | WILLIAMS MERCEDES | 1:26.732 | 1:27.092 | 14 | |
| 16 | 20 | Kevin Magnussen | HAAS FERRARI | 1:27.158 | 9 | ||
| 17 | 99 | Antonio Giovinazzi | ALFA ROMEO RACING FERRARI | 1:27.164 | 9 | ||
| 18 | 7 | Kimi Räikkönen | ALFA ROMEO RACING FERRARI | 1:27.366 | 9 | ||
| 19 | 8 | Romain Grosjean | HAAS FERRARI | 1:27.643 | 9 | ||
| 20 | 6 | Nicholas Latifi | WILLIAMS MERCEDES | 1:27.705 | 7 |
Q1 107% time – 1:31.807
Note – Kvyat penalised five grid places for an unscheduled gearbox change.
