Max Verstappen has taken pole position for the British Grand Prix, beating Lando Norris to the top spot on the front row.
The Dutchman set a 1:26.720 in Q3 to take his seventh pole position of the 2023 campaign, with Norris ending up two-tenths behind Verstappen.
READ MORE: F1 2023 British GP – Qualifying Results
It was a tale of two halves for Red Bull’s qualifying session, however, as Sergio Perez failed to advance out of the Q1 drop-zone once again.
It marks the fifth consecutive race that Perez has not seen the final segment of qualifying, and the third time this season that he has dropped out in the very first session.
Oscar Piastri captured his best ever F1 qualifying result in an exceptional day for McLaren, with the Australian ending the session in third place.
Qualifying started in slippery conditions with rain failing in the build up to the session. By the time Q3 got underway, the track had vastly improved.
Verstappen held provisional pole after the first run of laps and was only pipped by Norris in the final moments as the Dutchman crossed the line last to get the best of the grippy track.
However, the Red Bull driver managed to find time to better Norris’ effort to jump back to the top with pole position secured.
WIth Piastri third, the Ferrari duo of Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz followed in fourth and fifth respectively.
However, there was a tense moment between the two in Q1, when Sainz overtook Leclerc at the final corner for track position.
George Russell was sixth, leading team-mate Lewis Hamilton who survived a spin through the gravel on his opening lap in Q1 in slippery conditions.
Williams’ positive pace in practice resulted in eighth place for Alexander Albon in qualifying, with Fernando Alonso and Pierre Gasly rounding out the top 10.
Nico Hulkenberg missed out on a Q3 appearance and settled for an 11th place result, with Lance Stroll also exiting qualifying in Q2.
Esteban Ocon was 13th, ahead of Logan Sargeant who had a violent jump over the grass in Q1. Valtteri Bottas was P15, with his session ending at the end of Q1 when he came to a stop on the side of the track.
Perez was P16, with the AlphaTauri duo of Yuki Tsunoda and Nyck de Vries in 17th and 18th respectively.
Zhou Guanyu was 18th, while Kevin Magnussen Q1 session ended with a stoppage on the track, which caused the only red flag of the outing.
Discussion about this post