Mercedes surprises, Red Bull disappoints after strong start at Silverstone

Friday of the race weekend at Silverstone looked different than usual. For the first time, qualifying for the sprint race took place on Friday, a few hours after the first free practice.

Immediately busy during first free practice

During the first free practice, the track was crowded from the start, as everyone only had an hour to try things out. After qualifying, the Parc Fermé rules came into effect, so within this hour, all drivers and teams had to find the right set-up.

Mercedes made a strong start, with Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas alternating for the fastest time. Max Verstappen was able to stay close, but did not attack with everything he had at this stage. Sergio Perez also managed to join the fastest men.

Strong start for Mercedes, but short lived

After twenty minutes or so the fun for Mercedes was over as Red Bull Racing stepped on the gas. Pérez dived six tenths below Hamilton's fastest time, followed by Verstappen, who was more than six tenths below Pérez's time. Verstappen complained on the radio about a lack of power in the last two corners, but that problem seemed to be solved by setting a different mode.

In the midfield, there was a lot of interchanging going on, but the Red Bull Racing drivers' times were not improving for the time being. Meanwhile, the gap between Verstappen and the Mercedes drivers had already grown to 1.6 seconds. Hamilton and Bottas returned to the softs, however, and managed to climb back up to P3 and P4.

Norris surprises again with fast time

In the end it was Lando Norris who managed to surprise again. He moved up to second place in the closing stages of the race and did so on mediums, while the drivers behind him set their fastest time on softs. Nobody could come close to Verstappen's time, however.

Qualifying for sprint race at Silverstone

Then it was time for qualifying, which in the new format took place at a different time than we are used to. The qualifying for the sprint race that is scheduled the next day started in the evening. Another difference is that everyone drove on softs in this session, because the free choice of tyres applies to everyone in this format.

Verstappen started the qualifying session strongly, and was immediately the fastest in Q1. That time was not improved anymore. George Russell surprised everyone by setting a top 10 time, which made him safe for Q2. Tsunoda also had a surprising result, but in a negative way: he just missed out on Q2, meaning he will start 16th in the sprint race.

Loud cheers for Russell

Q2 started with a fast time from Hamilton, but Verstappen immediately went under. Bottas was also able to catch up. In the second run, however, Hamilton set a very fast time, which Verstappen could not match.

Russell managed to surprise again by putting his Williams in the top ten, and qualified for Q3. This happened under loud cheering from the British spectators.

Mercedes deals blow in Q3

In Q3, Mercedes dealt the blow: Hamilton started strong immediately, while Verstappen complained about understeer and the front tyres. As a result, the world champion was unable to hold off his first place, while Verstappen had to settle for second. Bottas finished third, but did an excellent job of teamwork in giving Hamilton a tow. Both Hamilton and his engineer were ecstatic on the radio, and were clearly ready for a good result.

Russell also managed to impress in Q3. He waited a long time before he went on track, but he saved the best for last: he parked his Williams in seventh place, again to the cheers of the crowd. He did have to give up a place to Charles Leclerc, who went just under his time.