F1 | British GP: analysis of qualifying

Four out of four. Mercedes will also start from pole position at Silverstone United, thanks to a W11 that is unattainable for its rivals and a Lewis in excellent form, who has thus achieved his third consecutive start from the first spot on the grid. The domination of the German manufacturer on Saturday in England is completed by Valtteri Bottas, who will start the race alongside his teammate on the front row. On a track where a good balance must be found between aerodynamic load and top speed on the long straights, the W11 once again showed off all its qualities, with a superiority over its rivals that was never remotely questioned.

Starting from third place will be Max Verstappen, once again capable of making the difference at the wheel of the RB16 by making the most of it: despite this, the Dutchman finished qualifying over a second behind Hamilton, a sign that, especially on the flying lap, at the moment the Stuttgart car is on another level, as also admitted by the number 33. The Saturday of teammate Alex Albon is more difficult, once again out in Q2 as well as in Hungary. Somewhat surprisingly, finishing the second row will be Charles Leclerc, who managed to bring his SF100 to the second row. The results on Friday had given encouraging signs which were then repeated in qualifying, both on the medium and soft tyres: it remains to be understood in which direction the team decided to work, favoring a qualifying set-up or maintaining something in view of the race, especially given a particularly unloaded set-up which shows its benefits more on the flying lap than in race conditions. It should be noted that both Verstappen and Leclerc will start on the medium tyre, trying a more versatile strategy.

Opening the third row will be Lando Norris who thus confirms his qualities in qualifying, achieving a promising fifth place for Sunday's event, also edging out two tenths of a second from his teammate, Carlos Sainz Jr., seventh on the grid. Lance Stroll was inserted between the two McLarens with Racing Point, from whom perhaps it was reasonable to expect something more considering the layout of the track and the quality of the single-seater, even if it is true that the Canadian has always given something more on the pace that on the flying lap. A step forward for Renault, capable of bringing both drivers into Q3, among other things with a fairly limited gap from their closest rivals: a reason for satisfaction for the mechanics, who had to work intensely during the night to replace the chassis on Daniel Ricciardo's car, thus breaking the curfew. Sebastian Vettel was further away, struggling with a particularly unfortunate weekend, in which due to various technical problems he was unable to run continuously, missing most of the free practice sessions and the opportunity to work on the set-up. The difficulties encountered by the German were evident, but, despite this, he did well to bring his SF1000 into the final phase of qualifying: on this very track, just over a year ago he had achieved excellent tire management , which allowed him to overtake his rivals at a crucial moment in the race. It will be interesting to see if the four-time world champion will be able to repeat himself and if, in the short time available, he has worked more towards the race than the flying lap.

Just outside the top we find Pierre Gasly, who had narrowly missed out on Q3, setting the same time as the one who would later be the last driver to pass the trap, namely Lance Stroll. However, having obtained that lap time after the Racing Point driver, the Frenchman from AlphaTauri could do nothing to avoid elimination, forcing him to start from the eleventh place, which is not a bad thing considering that it will give him the opportunity to have free choice in terms of tires and a new set at the start of the race. His teammate, Daniil Kvyat, finished the session in fourteenth place, still showing some difficulty in the comparison with Gasly, who is proving to be extremely competitive at this start to the season. Alex Albon and Nico Hulkenberg were inserted between the two AlphaTauris, with the latter still in the process of learning a completely new car for him: the objective for the race is to be able to score some points and learn something more about the car, a factor that could prove invaluable if Sergio Perez is unable to take to the track next week. For the third time in a row he had managed to get through to Q2, but a penalty for not slowing down sufficiently under yellow flag conditions sent George Russell back to the back of the grid, nullifying the good work done today.

The other two Ferrari-powered teams, Haas and Alfa Romeo, are still in difficulty, with the latter managing to divide the two American single-seaters. A widely expected result, not only due to the shortcomings in terms of power of the Ferrari Power Unit, which forces the teams to have to make compromises from an aerodynamic point of view, but also from a chassis point of view. Closing out the group is Nicholas Latifi, who spun during his last attempt, but will avoid starting from the last row thanks to the penalties awarded to Russell and Kvyat for changing the gearbox.

Q1: Ferrari powered cars eliminated

The trend seen in this initial phase of the championship continues, i.e. the difficulties of the Ferrari-powered customer teams who once again found themselves eliminated in the first phase of qualifying.

On a track like Silverstone it is essential to find the right compromise between top speed and aerodynamic load to drive the single-seater in the long corners, where it is possible to gain a lot of time by daring to drive, especially in the second sector. Having a power deficit, for the teams that mount the Cavallino Power Unit, finding this compromise is not easy, having to choose between a more loaded or a more unloaded set-up, in order to make up ground on the straights. This clearly affects the balance of the single-seater and for teams that had already shown all their difficulties in the first rounds both on the stop & go circuits and on the high load ones, arriving in these conditions at Silverstone can once again showcase all the weak points of the single-seater. For this reason it was not a surprise to see Alfa Romeo and Haas in difficulty on the flying lap, so much so that the teams themselves did not expect to make any particular progress compared to the previous qualifying sessions of the season.

Already after the first attempt it was clear that once again the two client teams of Cavallino and Nicholas Latifi would risk elimination, this time further away from his teammate from a chronometric point of view. Nonetheless, the evolution of the track, more extensive than could have been expected, had given these teams the opportunity to try again to reach access to Q2, making a clean lap and hoping that someone in front of them would make a mistake , thus not being able to set a sufficient time. Kevin Magnussen, Antonio Giovinazzi, Kimi Raikkonen and Romain Grosjean then managed to improve in the second attempt, but not enough to overcome the trap, while Nicholas Latifi was the protagonist of a spin, which also did not give the opportunity to several drivers quick to improve due to the yellow flag coming out. It should be underlined that in the last attempt, Kimi Raikkonen was slightly hindered by Esteban Ocon in the last corners, so much so as to lead to an investigation into the episode, but for the Finn it still would not have been enough to access the next heat, given the half second achieved by Lando Norris, last of the qualifiers. Certainly, however, it would have been important to gain some positions on the starting grid, also taking advantage of the penalties of the rivals.

“We knew it would be like this. It was what we expected going into this weekend, but we did what we could in qualifying, positioning ourselves ahead of the Alfa Romeos, who are our main rivals. This is what we can do at the moment. There is a jump from the next group. Even if we are in a bit of difficulty here, being able to get the most out of qualifying, this is what we have to concentrate on,” said Kevin Magnussen, who will take advantage of his rivals' penalties and start from the fourteenth spot, alongside Nico Hulkenberg.

Q2: Albon still in difficulty

The fight for access to the last qualifying heat was quite eventful, both due to the particularly small gaps and the variety in the choice of strategies adopted by the teams. In fact, seven drivers had chosen to take to the track with the medium tyre, which should guarantee greater versatility in the first stint of the race in case the soft were to show more marked degradation than one might expect. While there certainly would have been no problem for the two Mercedes in moving on to the next heat even with a slower compound on the flying lap, given the large advantage they had at their disposal, the challenge would have been more complicated for Max Verstappen, Charles Leclerc, Lance Stroll, Alex Albon and Nico Hulkenberg due to the marked gap between the two compounds.

During free practice, especially those on Saturday morning, the Dutchman from Red Bull seemed very competitive, finding a good balance to be able to manage the phenomena of understeer and oversteer which instead occurred on Friday, so undoubtedly Max was among the suspects for the passage of the round, so much so that they actually finished with the second time trial. The real surprise, however, was the third time of Charles Leclerc, who was very good at taking advantage of his SF1000 to obtain a rather unexpected result, as the Monegasque himself admitted at the end of the session. If for them, however, there were no particular difficulties in setting a time valid for passage to Q2 directly in the first attempt, the same could not be said for Lance Stroll, Alex Albon and Nico Hulkenberg, respectively eighth, ninth and tenth after the first run. The gaps, especially from Lando Norris and Sebastian Vettel, sixth and seventh but on soft tyres, were not particularly marked, around tenth, but the real unknown concerned the drivers who, due to the red flag, were unable to finish their lap .

In fact, during his first attempt, Lewis Hamilton had lost the car exiting turn 7, running wide and bringing a lot of gravel onto the track, so much so that he had to display the red flag in order to clean up the track. In addition to the Englishman from Mercedes himself, the losers were also the two drivers of AlphaTauri and Daniel Ricciardo, who was very unlucky in that when the red flag appeared, the Australian was just a few meters away from finishing his race. lap and setting a valid time.

After having cleared the track, there were a good eight minutes left until the end of the heat, which gave the drivers the opportunity to get back on track and attempt a new assault to secure a place in the final top ten. Unlike the first attempt, however, the teams had chosen to opt for some differences at a strategic level. Probably thinking that there could be an important evolution in terms of grip, not unlike what had happened in Q1, several teams had chosen a different approach for the second attempt, abandoning the medium tire to switch to the soft. The only ones to return to the track on the softer compound were Lewis Hamilton, who clearly would not have had any particular problems in setting a sufficient time, Lance Stroll and Sebastian Vettel, who in the qualifying place later explained his choice. Initially the German had considered that the track was not in good condition, so the softer compound seemed the best choice from his point of view to face Q2. After having carried out the first run, however, having seen the times of his rivals and having had the opportunity to see what condition the track was in, the Ferrarista had decided to change his strategy for the second attempt, switching to the average, even if beating the time achieved on the soft would not have been easy, so much so that he actually didn't succeed. The battle for the tenth place finish was exciting and, above all, played on the edge of thousandths of a second, so much so that at the end of the session Lance Stroll and Pierre Gasly found themselves with exactly the same time, despite the fact that it was the Canadian from Racing Point as it had achieved the time earlier than its rival. However, for the Frenchman from AlphaTauri it was not an elimination that should be considered entirely negative, given that eleventh position will allow him to have free choice in terms of rubber and a new set of tyres. In addition to the aforementioned Gasly, Alex Albon, Nico Hulkenberg, Daniil Kvyat and George Russell were also excluded from the second heat.

For the Anglo-Thai driver of Red Bull the situation is becoming quite complicated, given the lack of pace that he seems to constantly suffer from from his teammate, although it is true that the comparison with Verstappen would not be easy for any driver on the grid, even for the other top drivers. To try to put Albon back on the right track, the team had decided before the Silverstone weekend to entrust him with a new track engineer with more experience in that role, but it is clear that it will take time to understand if and when this move will lead to concrete benefits. For Nico Hulkenberg it is a whole new world and, although it is true that he only missed three races compared to his rivals, the lack of experience with this single-seater and having been catapulted so quickly into a complicated situation did not help him to get out the maximum from the single-seater, but the German will be able to make up for it in the race, in a continuous learning process. Finally, moving on to George Russell, despite the excellent work done in qualifying from a chronometric point of view, the Englishman will be forced to start from the back of the grid following a penalty for not slowing down sufficiently during the double yellow flag : alongside him will be Daniil Kvyat, who will also have to move up five positions on the grid following the replacement of the gearbox on his single-seater.

Q3: Hamilton achieves the ninety-first pole position of his career

Silverstone friendly track. Once again Lewis Hamilton achieved pole position on his home track, thus achieving his ninety-first career start from pole thanks to a masterpiece lap in which he truly had no rivals, not even his teammate, who was more than three points behind. tenths. Fluid in his steering wheel movements, precise and with very few corrections: despite not having put together all his best partials, which is also understandable given that the tire tended to overheat if not managed well, Hamilton managed to make the most of his W11, which once again he is putting down roots to enter the Olympus of the strongest cars in the history of Formula 1. On the contrary, greater difficulty for his teammate, Valtteri Bottas, who during his lap was unable to find that perfection that allowed Lewis to achieve pole. A difference both in terms of lines, especially in turn seven where he lost several hundredths of a second, and in the series of fast corners, where a little too much control did not help him bring more speed in the final part of the sequence which then leads to the straight following. Last year the Finn managed to start from the pole, but a questionable strategy and Hamilton's ability to keep the tires alive did not allow him to be in the fight for the final success: he will try again today, starting from second place and it will be essential to take advantage of the first laps to be immediately incisive and not give the six-time world champion the opportunity to take off right away.

Max Verstappen will start from third position, once again saving the Red Bull team which continues to be in light and dark. After a Friday in which there were many difficulties in finding the right balance of the car, alternating phenomena of understeer with continuous oversteer for a rear that still seems to need work, the work carried out by the team during the night then bore fruit . During free practice on Saturday and in qualifying, the balance of his RB16 seems to have given positive indications on the flying lap, despite greater wear of the front left compared to the more popular rivals: as Verstappen himself said, at the moment there is nothing that can be done, Mercedes is simply on another level. After taking fourth place during Q2, Charles Leclerc also reconfirmed himself in the last heat of qualifying, achieving a start from the second row that was anything but a given after free practice, even though, to be honest, the indications weren't all that obvious. negative, indeed. The Monegasque managed to exploit the potential of the SF1000 and a rather unloaded set-up to get the most out of it in qualifying: it will be interesting to see what he will be able to do in the race and whether the set-up choices will penalize him over the long distance, on a track where moreover last year tire management had suffered significantly. It will be a test, but the choice of medium could guarantee him greater versatility in terms of strategy in case the soft shows greater signs of failure than expected.

Lando Norris and Lance Stroll will start from the third row, with the former having once again demonstrated all his qualities on Saturday, thus putting himself behind not only his teammate, but also one of his rivals who seemed to have something in more like the Canadian from Racing Point. Stroll will also start on medium, which will give him the opportunity to extend the first stint, for a driver who has demonstrated his ability to make a difference on Sunday. The McLaren Englishman's teammate, Carlos Sainz Jr., is more distant and will share the fourth row with an excellent Daniel Ricciardo and a Renault which, on a track where it has always struggled, seems to have taken a step forward. Eighth place, not far in chronometric terms from those ahead of him, is the right reward for the work carried out by the mechanics during the night, who had to replace the chassis on the Australian's car after finding a small fracture. His teammate, Esteban Ocon, returns to Q3 after the good performance in the wet in the second race at the Red Bull Ring, ahead of a slower Sebastian Vettel. The German had missed most of the free practice sessions following some technical problems on his single-seater, thus limiting his knowledge of the car on the English track and the opportunity to refine the set-up in view of the official tests, from which also derive the difficulties encountered. During qualifying Sebastian never shone, managing to get through to Q3 by a few hundredths of a second: it should be underlined that, during the last attempt, the four-time world champion saw his best time canceled due to the track limits in turn 9, after he had tried for the first time to take the "Copse" in full like his most accredited rivals. The real doubt will be understanding how much the German, given the time lost and the few opportunities during free practice to try a real qualifying simulation, worked in preparation for the race, optimizing his set-up in view of Sunday. Last season, Vettel was the author of an excellent first part of the race, managing the soft tires sublimely unlike his closest rivals: starting on the soft compound on this occasion too, Sebastian will have to find the right balance in exploiting at most a compound that on Friday had not given entirely negative indications, managing it to then find himself in the position to be able to play strategy against those who will start in front of him.