Pole number 237 for Scuderia Ferrari at Silverstone, its seventh of the season, from ten races. It was down to an amazing performance from Carlos Sainz, who came out on top in the extremely difficult conditions in the rain that fell during qualifying for the British Grand Prix. It was Sainz’s very first Formula 1 pole position, making him the 34th Ferrari driver and the second Spaniard after Fernando Alonso to start from the number one slot, in this instance, for his 150th Grand Prix. Lining up on the grid box behind him will be team-mate Charles Leclerc, who saw his chances of getting on the front row disappear in a spin on his last run. Splitting the two Ferraris will be Max Verstappen.
Q3. All of qualifying was run in the wet and the Scuderia crew skilfully avoided the pitfalls of the conditions to get the drivers through to Q3. In the final part, both F1-75s were fuelled to go to the end of the session so as to lap continuously and take advantage of the slightest improvement on track. The rain stopped for the final few minutes and the lap times came down with each passing lap. Charles posted a time of 1’43”246, while Carlos got down to 1’42”181. The Monegasque then put in a 1’41”298, which Verstappen beat with a 1’41”055. But having the final word in fine style this Saturday at Silverstone, Carlos stopped the clocks in 1’40” 983, which proved a step too far for his rivals. Unfortunately, Charles had a spin which meant he had to settle for third place.
Unknown. There is a lot of work to do tonight in preparation for tomorrow’s 52 lap race (equivalent to 306.198 kilometres), which starts at 15 local (16 CEST). The outcome is far from clear, as no rain is forecast and only two sessions this weekend have been run in the dry. The race looks very open and there are many different possible tyre strategies to consider. As always, the Scuderia faces stiff opposition, but the team is ready for the fight.
Carlos Sainz #55
"I’m extremely happy today! Securing my first pole at Silverstone in the wet is something special that I will never forget. The whole qualifying was very tricky, and every lap was a new adventure because of the track conditions. Finding grip and traction was a huge challenge and every lap you had to adapt. On the very last attempt I went for it and managed to put a good lap together that gave us pole. The confidence for tomorrow is high and hopefully we can bring our good pace from Friday into the race. It will be a very tight battle with our competitors, but I’m ready for it and I’m sure we can put together a strong race and fight for the win. Let’s race."
Charles Leclerc #16
"Unfortunately, I spun on that last lap in Q3 and didn't put it together as I wanted to, so I am disappointed, but I am happy that Carlos finished on pole. I felt confident in the car and we were quite competitive, even in these conditions which is where we struggled quite a lot for the past two years. It's good to see that we've found some consistency in the wet. Strategies will be different between teams tomorrow, so whether it will be one or two stops, I hope we can gain something by making good moves and fight for a 1-2 for our team."
Mattia Binotto, Team Principal & Managing Director
"It’s very satisfying to come away with pole position and third place in the difficult conditions we faced in today’s qualifying. It was a day where what mattered most was to stay focussed and Carlos certainly succeeded in that. So, he fully deserves this result. Securing his first pole position at such a demanding track and in these extreme conditions is the best possible confirmation of how Carlos’ confidence in the car has grown over recent races, especially after Canada. Now we turn our attention to the race, the most important part of the weekend. Charles also had a good qualifying and he can move forward from his start position. However, it’s going to be a hard race tomorrow with many variables coming into play. We will now work on preparing to convert this pole into the best possible result tomorrow."