The top three drivers on the grid for tomorrow's Grand Prix at Silverstone will feature an all-British line-up for the first time since 1962, including a front row lock-out for Mercedes for George Russell and Lewis Hamilton.
Lando Norris was third for McLaren and will start ahead of Max Verstappen and Oscar Piastri, with Carlos Sainz only seventh after his Ferrari team mate Charles Leclerc missed the final cut.
There was further qualifying disaster for Sergio Perez this week after the Red Bull spun in early wet conditions at Copse and failed to set a time on slicks, meaning he lines up on the back row on Sunday.
After a rain-hit final practice and a further downpour between sessions that had caused the F2 support race to be red-flagged and time-limited, conditions were finally looking up at Silverstone with the sun making a tentative appearance helping the track to dry out as the cars headed out for the first round of British GP qualifying.
Q1: Mercedes trumps Ferrari as showers hit, with Perez spinning out
The tyre choice from the starter menu was intermediates. Logan Sargeant was first to venture out followed by two Saubers and the Alpine of Esteban Ocon. Soon the morning pace setters were out, Lewis Hamilton going top ahead of George Russell, but almost immediately Max Verstappen went two tenths ahead.
Lando Norris cut that gap to 0.089s. The two Mercedes went quicker on their second push laps, Oscar Piastri slotting into P3 ahead of a better time from Verstappen. But all this had the feeling of foreplay that wouldn't matter once the slicks came out.
The cars started to bolt on soft tyres to get the real contest underway. But before anyone could put them to good use there was a red flag for Sergio Perez losing the back end of the Red Bull after a snap of oversteer sent him spinning into the gravel at Copse. The RB20 was beached and out of the session.
The session resumed with seven and a half minutes remaining, cars queueing early on pit lane due to fears of more imminent rain. Valtteri Bottas was first to set a time and jumped almost five seconds in front and the order was transformed in the blink of an eye. Piastri and Norris timed their runs to go top ahead of Hulkenberg and Hamilton.
Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc scrambled to safety as the rain arrived, catching out Verstappen who went off at the same place as his team mate had minutes earlier. He able to continue and posted a time good enough for fourth as Carlos Sainz jumping out of the drop zone.
It was a nail-biting finish: Hamilton went quickest with a time of 1:29.547s half a second quicker than Russell followed by Leclerc and Sainz, Piastri now fifth from Yuki Tsunoda and Alex Albon. Verstappen had been pushed down to 11th but was safely through as was Norris in 13th from Sargeant and Hulkenberg. Those missing out were Bottas, Magnussen and Ocon, along with with Perez and Pierre Gasly who had little to prove given his engine change grid penalty.
Q2: Norris and Russell quickest as Leclerc misses the cut in final seconds
No more rain was expected as the cars headed out led by Alex Albon. The Williams held the top spot initially until Fernando Alonso went quicker, and then it was Piastri on top, then Sainz, and then Norris quicker still on 1:27.432s.
Verstappen wasn't in the mix at this point, possibly concerned about floor damage from his Q1 misadventure. Russell was only tenth on a used set of softs while Hamilton was P3 ahead of a great lap from Albon. A new lap from Alonso put the Aston Martin on top, and Verstappen found more speed to go second.
A new sequence of flying laps saw first Sainz then Piastri go top, then it was Nico Hulkenberg who found an extra tenth. Russell had been mired in the bottom five but his next lap on new tyres put the Mercedes on top ahead of Hamilton. When Norris went to the top on 1:26.559s it meant an all-British top three again as we'd seen in FP3 - until Piastri promptly crashed the party going second.
Final fliers saw Russell back into P2 ahead of Alonso, Verstappen safe but hardly convincing in sixth, and a late improvement from Lance Stroll putting Leclerc into the drop zone in 11th to join Sargeant, Tsunoda, Zhou Guanyu and Daniel Ricciardo watching the final round from the sidelines.
Q3: Russell pips Hamilton for Mercedes front row lock-out and all-Brit top three
With no more rain due, there was little rush at the start of Q3. With just over ten minutes to go, Albon finally took point with Verstappen dropping in behind him, and soon the rest fell into line.
Verstappen set the initial marker but the McLarens were immediately quicker, Norris going top on 1:26.030s. That was a little too hot for Hamilton to match, but Russell found six thousandths to restore the all-Brit top three again ahead of Piastri and Verstappen, as everyone pitted for new tyres.
One final salvo saw a frenzy of increasingly fast laps nudge Verstappen ahead of Piastri and divide the McLarens. Hamilton seemed to have clinched pole with his final bid only to be pipped by his team mate Russell. It was a Mercedes lock-out - and a memorable all-British top three for the race for the first time since 1962 at Aintree, Norris sharing the second row with Verstappen.
Piastri will start from fifth next to Hulkenberg, leaving Sainz only seventh alongside Stroll who faces a stewards investigation for leaving pit lane under a red light in Q1. Albon and Alonso round out the top ten on the grid.
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