Lewis Hamilton
Big cheers at Silverstone! Lewis Hamilton is back and grabbed pole for the sprint on his home track.
Hamilton has found his speed again and beaten Verstappen in the premiere of Friday's qualifying. The Briton was 75 thousandths ahead of the Dutchman.
There were hardly any surprises in the back in Q1: Tsunoda, Räikkönen, Latifi, Schumacher and Mazepin were thrown out. Max Verstappen put in front despite an unclean lap against Lewis Hamilton.
The usual tire poker in Q2 was eliminated because the soft compound had to be used in all three sessions. In the sprint on Saturday there is a free choice of tires. Hamilton outstripped Verstappen, but the greatest jubilation dusted off George Russell. The young Brit in the Williams catapulted himself sensationally to seventh place.
In Q3 the top teams had a blast again, Hamilton squeezed everything out of his Mercedes and set the fastest time in the first fast lap.
Verstappen complained of understeer on the front axle, so the seven-time world champion was able to defend his top position. So Verstappen has to be content with second place on the grid, 75 thousandths of a second were missing for the Dutchman.
Hamilton goes from pole position to the 17-lap sprint on Saturday at 5:30 p.m., in the 100-kilometer race, the final starting position for the Grand Prix on Sunday will be determined.
