‘HAD TO FOLLOW MAX’
Hamilton trails as Verstappen wins first ‘strange’ sprint race at Silverstone
WORLD Championship leader Max Verstappen won Formula One’s inaugural sprint race on Saturday to take pole position for the British Grand Prix but admitted it had been a “strange” experience.
The Red Bull driver finished the 100km dash around Silverstone ahead of defending world champion Lewis Hamilton with Valtteri Bottas in the second Mercedes in third place.
Verstappen has a 33-point lead over seven-time champion Hamilton.
“We were pushing each other hard as the tyres were blistering a lot,” said Verstappen who collected three points for his win after seeing off his rival by 1.4secs.
Hamilton took two and Bottas one.
“When I crossed the line after this race and I was told: ‘Good job, you have pole position’. It was a bit strange,” added the Dutch star as he reflected on the new Saturday format.
“What was great is that you start with less fuel, so the cars are faster and a little more lively” to complete the 17 laps rather than the 52 they will have to cover for the “real” race.
Hamilton started the 17-lap sprint at the front of the grid having topped qualifying on Friday but was immediately passed by Verstappen.
He wants to see action only on Saturdays and Sundays.
“Removing one day — 23 days over the season of driving less which, obviously, would be better in ecological terms,” he said.
On Saturday’s sprint in particular, he added: “It was pretty much the same as the last races — you had to follow Max.”
The rest of the top 10 was made up of Charles Leclerc in a Ferrari in fourth, Britain’s Lando Norris, in a McLaren, in fifth, and teammate Daniel Ricciardo just behind.
Two-time champion Fernando Alonso, behind the wheel of an Alpine, shrugged off his 39 years to climb to seventh on the grid.
Behind Alonso were Sebastian Vettel in the Aston Martin, Williams’ George Russell and Esteban Ocon in the second Alpine.