A Lewis Hamilton barely reached his voice when he wanted to celebrate his seventh pole position at Silverstone, seven tenths less than the previous track record (1: 24,303). A few minutes earlier, he had suffered a good scare when opening gas too soon, but at the moment of truth he showed his dominance again, with three tenths of an advantage over Valtteri Bottas and a second over Max Verstappen . "I had confidence issues, but I managed to regain my composure," the Mercedes leader later admitted, with a humility that sounds more like a sham.

There is no option at the moment for Bottas, who last year had grabbed the 'pole' on that same track for only six thousandths. The Finn had been showing very good pace in the long runs, ahead even in Q1 and Q2, although at the moment of truth he was overtaken by Hamilton. Awaiting any failure Verstappen remains. "Now we are a little bit closer. We will give war in the first curve"; the Dutch predicted.

Nor can you ask for much more from McLaren, whose aerodynamic improvements allowed Lando Norris , fifth, and Carlos Sainz , seventh, to show off even more . His best joint result since 2013. "There was margin in the car. I did not do my best lap in Q3, but I was able to recover sensations," said the Spaniard, aware that on Sunday he can challenge Racing Point and Ferrari.

Hulkenberg, behind Stroll

Charles Leclerc , fourth on the grid, gave us a taste of his immense talent as Sebastian Vettel pushed the limits of the track in the legendary Copse to finish tenth. The battle of the red cars with McLaren and Lance Stroll should be another focus of attention on Sunday.

The matter, with or without the Ferraris, got pretty tasty starting in Q2. A warning from Bottas (1: 25.015, 1.1 seconds faster than Verstappen) must have made Hamilton, who lost the car at Brooklands, a not-too-tight corner quite nervous. The interruption due to the cleaning of the track, dotted with gravel, did not affect the world champion, who repeated with the intermediate tires without major setbacks. The vertigo of the fight would take place a little behind.

Racing Point, with Nico Hulkenberg as substitute for Sergio Pérez , was the only team capable of keeping up with Verstappen. However, at the moment of truth, the Mercedes Rosa took too many risks with Stroll, even more attached to the car than his partner. On the last attempt they left him in the garage and only a chance hit allowed them to move on. The Canadian nailed Pierre Gasly's time (1: 26.501) and could also be passed by Alexander Albon (1: 26.545).

The Albon crisis

Nothing comes out of the Thai Red Bull, who suffered an ugly accident on Friday and could only participate for 14 minutes in the last free session. This second elimination in Q2 is going to deepen his personal crisis and give Ferrari some air. And that this time only Leclerc could take advantage, almost a second faster than Vettel.

Mercedes was even favored by the weather, with those clouds blocking the sun and lowering the temperature of the asphalt. No trace then of the blisters on the tires. The annoyance of the gusts of wind was also not going to intimidate a brave man like George Russell , the best driver at the bottom of the grid. One more week, the young Briton exposed his partner. While Nicholas Latifi couldn't control his Williams, Russell sneaked into the upgrade.

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  • Sebastian Vettel
  • Valtteri Bottas
  • Nico Hulkenberg
  • Max Verstappen
  • Lewis Hamilton
  • Formula 1
  • sports

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