F1 | Mercedes, Lewis Hamilton gets ahead of Max: "We left nothing to chance"

Lewis Hamilton is once again the fastest in Friday's unprecedented qualifying session. The seven-time world champion is faster than his rival Max Verstappen by just seventy-five thousandths on his home circuit in Silverstone: tomorrow he will be the one to take first place on the straight named after him in what will be the first Sprint Race Qualifying in history of Formula 1. Although celebrated as a pole - which has now been missing since the weekend in Spain - Lewis remains at one hundred: the one achieved today, on Friday, will not be counted as a pole position. The Sprint Race will therefore decide the pole man and the starting grid for Sunday's race. It is still early, therefore, to claim victory for Mercedes, which has always taken pole at Silverstone since 2013.

"I'm so grateful to see everyone back here, being at the Silverstone Grand Prix again and seeing the stands full and feeling everyone's energy is amazing – said the seven-time world champion, who celebrated the first position in front of his audience – Looking ahead to this weekend I had great faith in the work that the whole team did, and the energy of the fans helped us".

"The Red Bulls were very fast in free practice, but we remained focused on our work to try to improve; I was at the simulator this morning to prepare, we had never had a free morning – revealed Sir Lewis – I wanted the best time, trying to give absolutely everything without leaving anything to chance. We worked hard, pushing ourselves to the max on the track, in the simulator and in the factory, to stay focused and squeeze the most out of the car. It's been a difficult time for everyone and finally there are fans at the British Grand Prix, and the desire to perform in front of them was incredible".