Five things we learned from Qualifying for the F1 British GP

After a difficult few races, Charles Leclerc has reason to feel optimistic again after pipping Lewis Hamilton to second place on the grid for the British GP.

Hamilton came into this weekend full of confidence a delivered a rousing pole for the sprint race while Leclerc wilted. However, in qualifying for the GP, it was Leclerc who will line up in second and Hamilton a place behind in third on the grid.

It is all poised for an exciting start to Sunday's race, where Hamilton is going in search of victory. He said: "I am happy to be up here, Charles has been making good improvements and we are slowly closing the gap to Mercedes. Whether we can keep up with Kimi, we will see but we will see what we can do with the strategy."

Disgruntled and beaten for the most part by his own teammate, Max Verstappen had a miserable Saturday at Silverstone. He cursed over the radio and cut a dejected figure after crossing the line.

"What a disaster!" he complained after Q2. Things aren't going swimmingly for him right now but as we have seen in the past, these outbursts have a habit of kicking his Red Bull team into gear.

He has his work cut out, starting the race in seventh - but you can never rule him out. Isack Hadjar beat the three time world champion and lines up in fifth.

He came into the weekend knowing a win would silence the critics and give himself a timely boost of self-confidence after a difficult start the season.

Russell spoke about wanting his own grandstand at this circuit, just as Norris and Hamilton have, it was a rare insight that he wants equal billing as his to countrymen.

However, unlike the other two, he has yet to win the F1 British GP, and changing that statistic looks a big ask now after a scrappy Saturday and qualifying fourth.

He ran into the barriers in Q1, was so uncomfortable in the car that he changed his seat in Q2 and in Q3 he was again off the pace of his teammate, who starts on pole.

A record crown of nearly 600,000 people are expected over the four days and it felt like all of them turned up for qualifying.

The grandstands were packed, the hospitality units were filled to the brim - if there is any concern about F1 popularity on the slide, then it is certainly not the case in the UK.

There were massive queues for hospitality - it feels like everyone wants to get a piece of F1, quite literally. Business is booming.

Fernando Alonso was plumb last and Lance Stroll was just ahead of him. There was no hiding from the humiliation here as the team, based just across the road from Silverstone, were embarrassingly off the pace.

They keep on putting on a brave face, but the reality is this was supposed to be Adrian Newey’s masterpiece yet the reality is this car is dreadful. Not helped by the below-strength Honda power unit, but it is difficult to see how the team can climb out of this mess.