Max Verstappen takes pole for F1 British Grand Prix as Lando Norris grabs surprise P2, Lewis Hamilton seventh

Published 08/07/2023 at 15:55 GMT

Red Bull's current world champion, Max Verstappen, claimed pole for the F1 British Grand Prix at Silverstone in Saturday's qualifying session. However, there was disappointment for the Austrian outfit as Sergio Perez was cut in Q1 as he finished in sixteenth spot. Second place on the grid went to Lando Norris to ensure British representation on the front row.

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Max Verstappen took pole position for the fifth time of the season, with Lando Norris alongside him on the grid in P2 for Sunday’s British Grand Prix.

There was an element of added glamour at Silverstone with Brad Pitt’s film - rumoured to be called Apex - in attendance with their altered F2 car, which will be present at other races for some of the season.

Drama kicked in from the off in occasionally rainy conditions as there were a couple of red flags early on, one caused by Kevin Magnussen’s Haas.

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Red Bull’s Verstappen also caused a worry when his nose required minor, early repairs, but that did not prevent him from taking the top spot in Q3.

There was some bad news for Red Bull, though. While the two-time world champion was quickest, Sergio Perez put in another disappointing performance at qualifying as he came 16th, joining Yuki Tsunoda, Zhou Guanyu, Nyck de Vires and Magnussen in going out at the first stage.

For the second round of cuts, Nico Hulkenberg, Lance Stroll. Esteban Ocon. Logan Sargeant and Valtteri Bottas exited.

That left the Silverstone crowd optimistic that they might see some decent British representation in the top 10.

Norris’ second spot, for McLaren, was the best of the lot.

George Russell and Lewis Hamilton were sixth and seventh respectively, with Alexander Albon in eighth spot.

Third on the grid was Oscar Piastri for McLaren, with Ferrari fourth and fifth with Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz finishing in that order.

Fernando Alonso took ninth, while Pierry Gasly rounded out the top 10 for Q3.

The full race takes place on Sunday afternoon.

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