Silverstone (United Kingdom) (AFP)
Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) will start from pole position again for the British Grand Prix on Sunday after beating teammate Valtteri Bottas in qualifying on Saturday at the Silverstone circuit.
The six-time British world champion and title holder thus won his 7th pole position at Silverstone and the 91st of his career. The two Mercedes, which have confirmed their domination since the start of the season, are ahead of Red Bull of Max Verstappen and Ferrari of Charles Leclerc.
The British driver, however, experienced a fright during these qualifications with a spin during the 2nd part of the session (Q2) which caused an interruption of the session due to the gravel strewing the track.
But he recovered well in the third and last part (Q3) by smashing the track record set last year by Bottas.
The GP of Great Britain, 4th round of the season, takes place like the first three, behind closed doors, whereas Silverstone is usually famous for the animation provided by its fans, generally committed to the cause of the British driver.
"It's very empty here. Usually there are the sirens, the flags, the smoke bombs and the atmosphere is intense. We miss them (the fans) very much. But I hope they are happy with the result, "Hamilton said on Saturday after setting the fastest time.
Bottas was deluded until Q3 and said he was satisfied with his result, even though he considered it "disappointing". The Finn is currently second in the world championship with five points behind Hamilton who won the last two races, in Austria and Hungary, while Bottas won first, in Austria as well.
As for Verstappen, he again showed that Red Bulls are Mercedes' most serious rivals but conceded Hamilton more than a second.
"I have a chance (of victory) by starting 3rd", he underlined while occupying this same place in the championship, but already 30 units behind the leader, that is to say more points than in a victory. in F1.
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