BRITISH GRAND PRIX POLES APART
THE GRID Lewis fends off Bottas to set ne w Silverstone record
1 Hamilton 2 Bottas 3 Verstappen 4 Leclerc 5 Norris 1:24.303 1:24.616 1:25.325 1:25.427 1:25.782
LEWIS HAMILTON lit up a Silverstone track devoid of spectators to put his Mercedes on pole for the British Grand Prix.
Hamilton set the fastest ever lap at the Northamptonshire circuit to cement his status as the pre-race favourite to win here for a seventh time.
He lapped the 3.7-mile track at an average speed of 156.6 mph to take the 91st pole of his career, and making him the first driver to take seven poles at his home race.
Hamilton saw off team-mate Valtteri Bottas by an impressive 0.313 seconds, with the all-black machines continuing to crush their bewildered opposition.
Red Bull driver Max Verstappen finished third, but the Dutchman was a full second slower than Hamilton.
Charles Leclerc was even further back in fourth for
Ferrari. British driver Lando Norris finished fifth for Mclaren.
Hamilton headed into the top- 10 shootout at a windy Silverstone having failed to finish fastest in either of the three practice sessions, and with Bottas quickest in Q1 and Q2.
There was also the rare sight of a Hamilton spin, after the six-time world champion lost control of his Mercedes on the exit of Luffield.
Hamilton (right) made it back to the pits as the session was halted for eight minutes to clear up the mess of gravel and stones he had left behind.
He recovered to ensure he progressed to the final stage of qualifying and then delivered when it mattered, to claim pole on his seemingly unstoppable march towards a recordequalling seventh world title. “It was real struggle out there,” said Hamilton. “We had that spin and qualifying is about confidence.
“I was down in the first sector, too, so I don’t know how but I managed to compose myself for Q3.
“Q3 started off the right way, it was a clean first lap and the second one was even better.
“It never gets old, qualifying on pole. Normally you have the sirens going off, the flags, the smoke and the atmosphere is buzzing.
“We miss the fans here but hopefully they are happy with my turnaround watching at home.”
Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel was 10th, an eye- watering two seconds slower than Hamilton, while Alexander Albon’s rocky season continued – unable to get his Red Bull through to Q3. Re d Bull are historically ruthless in axing drivers and the London-born Albon, who qualified only 12th here, faces a precarious future if his one-lap performances fail to improve.
Albon will line up one place ahead of
German racer Nico Hulkenberg, who is deputising for Sergio Perez this weekend.
The Mexican became the first Formula One driver to return a positive Covid-19 test result and is in quarantine.
Lance Stroll, in the other Racing Point, was sixth.
There was disappointment for George Russell, who was relegated to the back of the grid.
The Brit had made it out of the opening phase of qualifying for the third time in as many races, putting his Williams 15th.
Remarkably, he has beaten his team-mate over one lap in all 25 of his F1 appearances. He whitewashed Robert Kubica last term and is 4-0 up on rookie Nicholas Latifi this year.
But stewards ruled the 22- year- old didn’t s l ow sufficiently after Latifi’s spin.