Qualifying British GP: Hamilton to lead to first sprint race of the season at Silverstone

Lewis Hamilton will lead the first Formula One sprint race this weekend at Silverstone following Friday Qualifying.

Verstappen tried to outpace the Mercedes driver, but to no avail, and will be taking off from P2 tomorrow followed by Bottas in third.

Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc will be in fourth, followed by Sergio Perez in 5th, the McLaren duo of Norris and Ricciardo in 6th and 7th, and Williams’ Russell in the eighth.

Closing out the top ten for tomorrow’s sprint will be the second Ferrari of Carlos Sainz and Aston Martin’s Sebastian Vettel in P9 and P10.

Lando Norris landed in P1 immediately after a lap in 1:28.277s with Antonio Giovinazzi in the Alfa Romeo just a few tenths off.

Behind Giovinazzi were Pierre Gasly, Fernando Alonso, and Carlos Sainz on the first runs with 11 minutes to go this evening.

Lewis Hamilton headed onto the track and took P1 temporarily before Max Verstappen knocked him off the top spot with a lap in 1:26.751s – four-tenths quicker than Hamilton’s first attempt.

After a slow start, Ricciardo managed to lift his McLaren out of the elimination zone with a minute to go.

Then Vettel drove his Aston Martin to safety before time ran out, however, the same couldn’t be said for the bottom 5 in Q1, which were:

16) Yuki Tsunoda, AlphaTauri

17) Kimi Raikkonen, Alfa Romeo

18) Nicholas Latifi, Williams

19) Mick Schumacher, Haas

20) Nikita Mazepin, Haas

Valtteri Bottas and Lewis Hamilton were the first to start their flying laps in Q2, followed by the McLarens of Lando Norris and Daniel Ricciardo.

Hamilton went fastest with a lap in 1:26.602s, a tenth faster than Verstappen’s best attempt in Q1 – however, the Dutch driver returned to the track this evening and knocked Hamilton off the top spot once more in 1:26.504s.

The Ferraris had a much better Q2 that saw Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc slot into seventh and eighth on the first laps, meanwhile, Daniel Ricciardo was sixth, with team-mate Lando Norris ninth with 5 minutes to go.

Hamilton put in an incredible final flying lap towards the end of Q2 and retook the lead with 1:26.023, while the following drivers were out:

11) Fernando Alonso, Alpine

12) Pierre Gasly, AlphaTauri

13) Esteban Ocon, Alpine

14) Antonio Giovinazzi, Alfa Romeo

15) Lance Stroll, Aston Martin

In the final shootout this evening for the starting grid ahead of the first sprint race of the season, Lewis Hamilton managed to find the performance he’s been missing lately – landing P1 in 1:26.134s.

Verstappen tried to outpace the Mercedes driver, but to no avail, and will be taking off from P2 tomorrow followed by Bottas in third.

Ferrari’s Lecerlc will be in fourth, followed by Perez in 5th, the McLaren duo of Norris and Ricciardo in 6th and 7th, and Williams’ Russell in the eighth.

Closing out the top ten for tomorrow’s sprint will be the second Ferrari of Carlos Sainz and Sebastian Vettel in P9 and P10.

Here’s tomorrow full starting grid: