Silverstone is such a fantastic track and it’s always a great race weekend. It’s also the home Grand Prix for most of the teams, as well as three drivers (HAM, BUT & PAL).
Obviously there’s a lot of focus on the intra-Mercedes battle, after ROS was judged to have caused the collision with HAM on the final lap in Austria, which cost the team a(nother) 1-2 finish. Toto Wolff has said that the drivers are on their final warnings and they haven’t ruled out team orders if that’s what it takes.
Free practice:
- FP1: HAM (1:31.654), ROS, HUL, VET, RIC
- FP2: HAM (1:31.660), RIC, VES, VET, RAI
ROS spent FP2 in the garage; apparently the initial problem was a small water leak; conspiracy theorists suggested he was being benched by Mercedes as punishment for Austria
BUT had a power delivery problem in his McLaren - FP3: HAM (1:30.904), ROS, RIC, VES, VET
ERI had a nasty spin after touching the fake grass; apparently it damaged the safety cell so he won’t be able to run in Quali
VET will take a 5 grid spot penalty after a gearbox change – the one from Austria (which also cost him a penalty) already needs to be replaced
Air temperature 20°C; track 25°C; humidity 79%; 20% chance of rain
Qualifying session 1 (Q1)
The Manor pair are first onto the track
Looks like everyone’s starting Q1 on soft tyres
WEH 1:34.298
HAR 1:33.821
GUT 1:33.610
ROS 1:30.724
HAM P2 by 0.015sec
PAL’s time is deleted because he ran wide, outside track limits
MAG’s time deleted too
5mins left of Q1; bottom 6 are HAR, WEH, GUT, NAS; PER hasn’t set a time yet and ERI is not running in Q1
PER clocks a time; goes P11 and pushes MAG into the drop zone
GUT P10; GRO to P17
GRO P12; PAL to P17
1min left; bottom 6 are PAL, MAG, HAR, NAS, WEH & ERI
MAG P15; KVY to P17 … but did MAG run off track?
Chequered flag
WEH only up to P19
HAR P19
KVY to P15 but that means BUT is bumped to P17
Why was BUT still in the garage?
Back of the grid: BUT, PAL, HAR, WEH, NAS and ERI will need approval from the stewards to race tomorrow
That’s 2 of the 3 Brits out
Qualifying session 2
Seems to be confusion as to whether MAG or BUT will run in Q2!
ROS 1:29.970
HAM 1:29.243
Looks like BUT is taking his helmet off but MAG is still sitting in his car
RAI spins as he’s just about to start his quick lap
Radio from PER – pit lane speed limiter isn’t slowing him down
Interview with BUT: rear wing came detached!
5mins left; bottom 6 are PER, KVY, GUT, MAS and no time from RAI or MAG
RAI runs wide, off track as he passes someone coming out of the pits
Third attempt at a quick lap for RAI
Chequered flag; bottom 6 are PER, KVY, GUT, MAS, RAI, MAG
RAI goes P6, relegating ALO
GUT P13
PER P9, GRO to P11
ALO P8, SAI to P11
MAS P12
SAI P8, PER to P11
Middle of the grid: PER, MAS, GRO, GUT, KVY, MAG
Replay shows RAI running off track, so he might lose his quick lap
The “zero tolerance” of running outside track limits does not seem to be being applied consistently
Qualifying session 3
Top 10 shootout will be between HAM, ROS, VES, VET, RIC, RAI, BOT, SAI, ALO, HUL
ROS 1:29.606
HAM 1:29.339
HUL P3
ALO P4
VES P3
BOT P4
RIC P4
RAI P5
VET P6 – he almost lost the tail
HAM’s time deleted, so ROS now P1
SAI P7
5mins left; order is ROS, VES, RIC, RAI, VET, BOT, SAI, HUL, ALO and now no time for HAM
HAM is the first to leave the pits for the final runs
2mins left; all 10 cars on track
HAM 1:29.287
Chequered flag
No-one improves at the top, so the front of the grid: HAM, ROS, VES, RIC, … wait, ALO’s just had his time deleted
Front of the grid: HAM, ROS, VES, RIC, RAI, VET*, BOT, HUL, SAI, ALO
*VET will drop 5 places because of the gearbox change
HAM’s 4th pole at the British GP
Provisional grid: HAM, ROS, VES, RIC, RAI, VET*, BOT, HUL, SAI, ALO, PER, MAS, GRO, GUT, KVY, MAG, BUT, PAL, HAR, WEH, NAS and ERI will need approval from the stewards to race tomorrow
*VET will drop 5 places because of the gearbox change
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