Pole position qualifier Max Verstappen of the Netherlands and Oracle Red Bull Racing celebrates in parc ferme during qualifying ahead of the F1 Grand Prix of Great Britain at Silverstone Circuit on July 08, 2023 in Northampton, England. (Photo by Mark Thompson | Getty Images)
SILVERSTONE, United Kingdom – Mother Nature seems to be a Formula 1 fan as she has shown up a lot as of late.
For the fifth racing weekend in a row, wet weather occurred during at least one of the days of track activities. At Silverstone, it rained during the Saturday Free Practice (FP) 3 session and the start of the qualifying sessions.
FP3 started dry before rain showers arrived. For about 25 minutes, teams got some track time in the dry, obtaining valuable data.
With that, the timing sheets were different than what has been the norm for 2023. After being unable to do any laps during FP2 on Friday, Charles Leclerc put his Ferrari at the top of the timing sheets in Saturday’s practice session.
Once again, in dry conditions, Williams Racing saw Alex Albon and Logan Sargeant put together some fast laps. Albon was in the top three of the timing sheets, grabbing the second-fastest lap before the rain fell.
Meanwhile, Aston Martin and Fernando Alonso continued to show strength by putting in the third-fastest time. Likewise, Alpine showcased some improvements as Pierre Gasly got the fourth-fastest time.
After having a disappointing Friday, Mercedes and Lewis Hamilton tallied the fifth-fastest time of the session.
Red Bull did not see themselves at the sharp end of the timing sheets during those 25 minutes of dry running. In fact, they did not make a switch to soft tires as the track improved before the rain fell. However, they were able to get some more track time during the wet track portion.
With FP3 done, there was anticipation in terms of when qualifying would occur and if it would be a wet session, a wet-to-dry session, or a completely dry session.
The three qualifying sessions were marked with drama and excitement that offered some unpredictability. A majority of teams would take to the track at the beginning of Q1 on the red-lined Soft compound tires while a handful of teams chose the Intermediate tires due to the damp track.
It was almost immediately clear that the crossover point from intermediate to dry tires already occurred. Within a matter of moments, all 20 teams were making laps on the Soft compound tires.
Williams Racing, the surprise of the weekend so far, struggled a bit during the first session of qualifying due to the changing conditions. Albon and Sargeant fought their way into the remaining sessions.
As the session progressed, faster and faster times were being dropped down. Teams who thought they were able to advance to Q2 had to make additional runs.
But the drama of the session came when the Haas of Kevin Magnussen stalled at Stowe, bringing out the red flag with three minutes of time remaining. Albon and Sargeant along with the Red Bull’s Sergio Perez were in the danger zone of not making it to the second round.
Once Magnussen’s car was out of danger, the action picked up as the remaining 19 drivers had just enough time to make a final lap to end Q3. In these final moments, the McLaren pair of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri stole the headlines.
Norris and Pistari put together impressive times that placer them at the sharper end of the field. Meanwhile, while Perez was the first car on track, it was not advantageous as the track times kept falling.
Despite Perez setting a decent pace, it was all for naught as he tumbled down the order into the cutoff zone. It was the fifth time in a row that he would not be able to make it to Q3 with his teammate.
Max Verstappen of Red Bull Racing and The Netherlands and Lewis Hamilton of Mercedes and Great Britain during qualifying ahead of the F1 Grand Prix of Great Britain at Silverstone Circuit on July 08, 2023 in Northampton, England. (Photo by Peter Fox | Getty Images)
After the checkered flag flew, the stricken Alfa Romeo of Valtteri Bottas sat idle on the side of the track, ending the session early.
Perez was joined by the Haas of Magnussen, the other Alfa Romeo of Zhou Guanyu, and the pair of AlphaTauri’s of Yuki Tsunoda and Nyck de Vries.
Notably, de Vries may have an unsafe release penalty coming his way during an earlier phase of the session when his team released him in front of Piastri on pit lane.
With track conditions continually improving with lap times falling and the sun coming out, an equally dramatic Q2 was just ahead. As Bottas was unable to complete a lap in Q1, only 14 cars duked it out for the 10 spots for the pole in the upcoming Q3.
The McLaren duo of Norris and Piastri continues to turn heads along with Mercedes as they turned up the wick with Hamilton and George Russell duking it out for the fastest time. However, it was the Red Bull of Max Verstappen who stuck through and took the fastest time.
Further down the order, Alpine’s Esteban Ocon got into a little bit of a tussle with the Aston Martin of Lance Stroll which prevented both from making it into the next round going into the final section of corners.
The Williams duo of Albon and Sargeant attempted to use the dry track to their advantage. Although Albon was able to get to the sharper end of the field, Sargeant was not able to get a fast, clean lap in as a lot of his track times were deleted due to track limits.
Joining Bottas, Sargeant, Ocon and Stroll was the Haas of Nico Hulkenberg. With that, the top 10 was set for what shaped up as a riveting Q3.
The Drag Reduction System (DRS) was enabled for the final round with a little bit of tire strategy in the mix. Namely, nine out of the 10 teams made their final round runs with a set of used Soft tires and a new set of Soft tires.
The man to be beat was Verstappen, who had the chance to have two runs in the final round with two brand new sets of Soft compound tires.
Setting the stage early was the Ferrari duo of reigning pole-sitter and race-winner Carlos Sainz along with his teammate Leclerc followed by the Aston Martin of Alonso in tow.
They were all overshadowed by the home fan favorites of Hamilton and Russell and Norris and Piastri. That, was shortlived as the DRS-assisted Verstappen put together an impressive lap to set the time to beat.
With the benchmarks set, all running cars went back to the pit lane to swap to a new set of Soft compound tires. Leclerc set the fastest time with Sainz in tow while Hamilton and Russell were unable to jump them.
Norris crossed the line to take the provisional pole to the roar of the crowd while his rookie teammate Piastri followed suit. But that was short-lived as Verstappen came across the line to take the pole for the fifth race in a row.
The top 10 was set with Verstappen taking the pole with Norris and Piastri followed by Leclerc and Sainz and Hamilton and Russell to follow. Williams’ Albon, Aston Martin’s Alonso and Alpine’s Pierre Gasly rounded out the top 10.
Now all eyes turn to the British Grand Prix on Sunday. Will McLaren keep up their form on Saturday to take the fight to Verstappen or will the Red Bull ace continue his impressive 2023 form? That and much more will be seen on Sunday.
