Official F1 Journal Formula 1 Saturday Round Up - British Grand Prix

5/7/2024

In a thrilling qualifying session that included rain, intermediate tyres, soft tyres and Perez bringing out the red flag. It ultimately ended with an all-British top three for the first time since 1968 and the first time ever at Silverstone!

Max Verstappen joined his teammate with a trip into the gravel and picked up some floor damage, which resulted in a tough qualifying session and, ultimately, a P4 start for Sunday's feature race.

Leclerc was knocked out early in Q2, and his teammate Sainz finished in P7.

Free Practice Three

Top 10 Results
1) George Russell 1'37.529
2) Lewis Hamilton +0.035
3) Lando Norris +0.185
4) Carlos Sainz +0.610
5) Max Verstappen +0.864
6) Charles Leclerc +0.925
7) Oscar Piastri +1.125
8) Fernando Alonso +1.411
9) Sergio Perez +1.755
10) Nico Hulkenberg +1.811

Three Brits finished Free Practice Three in the top three positions at their home Grand Prix, in typically British wet practice session.

With a 10c outside temperature and a 16c track temperature, every driver used intermediate tyres for the duration of the practice session, and there was an 80% chance of rain.

Pierre Gasly was the only driver to end up in the gravel, which brought out a six-minute red flag in the first part of the session. Most of the other drivers had slips and slides, with Verstappen, Leclerc, and Bottas all taking a spin.

Qualifying

Q1

Out In Q1
16) Valtteri Bottas
17) Kevin Magnussen
18) Esteban Ocon
19) Sergio Perez
20) Pierre Gasly

In a dramatic Q1, which both Mercedes drivers topped, Sergio Perez ended up in the gravel and out of qualifying. The session started dry, had a little rain and then favoured those who left it until the last moment to do their last push lap. Verstappen ended the session in P11 after going off onto the gravel on his previous push lap with Norris, who was only just getting through in P13.

Sergio Perez briefly brought out the red flag, stopping qualifying and reducing everyone else's dry time out on the track. Drivers used a mix of intermediate tyres, and those who braved it and changed onto softs at the end reaped the rewards.

Q2

Out In Q2
11) Charles Leclerc
12) Logan Sargeant
13) Yuki Tsunoda
14) Zhou Guanyu
15) Daniel Riccardo

The rain had disappeared for Q2, with the track drying and the 15 drivers all out on the track on soft tyres.

Norris topped the standings early on in the session, with Alonso, Russell, and Piastri all topping the table, but ultimately, Norris finished the session in P1.

Verstappen struggled throughout the session after picking up some floor damage on his trip into the gravel in Q1. Towards the end of the qualifying session, Verstappen was in trouble, finding himself in 11 in trouble. It takes until his final flying lap to make it into P6 and just through to Q3.

Leclerc also struggled throughout the session and was ultimately knocked out in P11 by Stroll, who just made it through.

Q3

Starting Top 10
1) George Russell 1'25.819
2) Lewis Hamilton 1'25.990
3) Lando Norris 1'26.030
4) Max Verstappen 1'26.203
5) Oscar Piastri 1'26.237
6) Nico Hulkenberg 1'26.338
7) Carlos Sainz 1'26.509
8) Lance Stroll 1'26.585
9) Alex Albon 1'26.640
10) Fernando Alonso 1'26.917

It was a thrilling Q3, which ended up with an all-British top three for the first time since 1968. George Russell topped the timesheet, followed by Lewis Hamilton and Lando Norris.
Between Q2 and Q3, Red Bull tried to fix Verstappen's floor damage and sent him out first with a brand new set of soft tyres, but ultimately, his trip to the gravel in Q1 cost him time, and he only managed P4 for Sunday's feature race.

Mercedes' George Russell earns his first pole at the British Grand Prix; he said afterwards: "What a feeling, at the start of this year, I don't think we could have even dreamt of being on pole here, one-two for me and Lewis, and Lando it's just mega. It's down to these fans as well. They give us so much energy, so thank you for that."

Anny Wooldridge
Writer at the F1 Journal

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