George Russell took his second pole position in 2024 as he edged out Mercedes team-mate Lewis Hamilton to top spot in qualifying at Formula 1’s British Grand Prix.
The Briton delivered with a last-gasp effort to harbour a 0.171-second advantage over the sister Mercedes at the death as Lando Norris ended up in third for McLaren.
The rain had been prevalent on an intermittent basis during the earlier sessions, but the sun had emerged from behind the dark clouds at last to brighten proceedings.
However, there were still damp patches scattered around the circuit and the drivers ventured out onto the track with Intermediate rubber fitted to their respective cars.
Verstappen led the times as the opening laps were completed with less than a tenth advantage over Norris as the drivers hunted moisture to cool their Intermediates.
But the Mercedes pairing, who locked out the top two places in a damp final practice session, demoted the Dutchman to third as Hamilton pipped team-mate Russell.
With less than 10 minutes having been completed, the drivers toured back into the pits to switch across onto the slicks as the crossover period had now materialised.
The track remained damp in parts, however, and Sergio Perez found that out as the under-pressure Mexican span his Red Bull at Copse and ended stuck in the gravel.
With improvements once the session continued all but certain, Perez was resigned to a premature exit on a weekend where his Red Bull prospects have been queried.
The cars queued in the pit lane awaiting the green light to venture back to the track, as Oscar Piastri was told over the radio that there was rain imminent on the radar.
Dark clouds were descending over the circuit as the cars filtered out and it was the two Sauber drivers that posted the first laps on Softs to propel straight to the top.
But the Hinwil-based squad’s competitors would tumble down the order as those behind on the circuit improved, with Piastri now leading McLaren team-mate Norris.
The rain was making things tough out on track and Verstappen almost repeated his team-mate’s error as he had a moment at Copse and ran wide through the gravel.
Hamilton and Russell managed improvements at the death to take over the top positions once more, while the Ferraris escaped danger to climb into third and fourth.
Sauber’s Valtteri Bottas, Haas’ Kevin Magnussen and Alpine’s Esteban Ocon all exited at the opening stage along with Perez and Pierre Gasly, who boasts a grid drop.
The second 15-minute stage began with all the remaining 15 drivers wasting no time going back on the track as heavier rain continued to threaten the skies overhead.
Piastri continued to produce an encouraging pace as he headed to the top in Q2, but Carlos Sainz then emerged from out the blue in the Ferrari to go one-tenth faster.
However, Norris would proceed to move the benchmark even more as Hamilton and Alex Albon’s Williams slipped in behind the Briton and Sainz to push Piastri down.
Sainz, Fernando Alonso and Verstappen all produced improvements on their second efforts to reside over the top three positions until Piastri went two-tenths quicker.
Russell was situated in the relegation zone with three minutes remaining, but the Briton nailed his last attempt in the middle segment to book his place through to Q3.
The Mercedes driver’s latest time put Charles Leclerc down to 12th place and the Monegasque was eliminated when his final lap made him vulnerable in eighth place.
Both Aston Martin drivers improved to send Leclerc out alongside Logan Sargeant’s Williams. Sauber’s Guanyu Zhou also headed to the exit as he split the RB drivers.
Verstappen was reported to be nursing substantial damage from his earlier escapade at Copse and his initial lap in Q3 put him behind the McLaren duo on the times.
But while Norris led Piastri with a two-tenth gap between the two McLaren cars, Russell then went six-thousandths faster than his compatriot to take provisional pole.
Meanwhile, Hamilton slotted the second Mercedes into third to split the McLaren drivers, leaving Verstappen to complete the top five in the single remaining Red Bull.
Verstappen managed personal bests in the final two sectors, but that wasn’t enough to move higher than fourth as Hamilton went faster to usurp his team-mate’s lap.
However, Russell saved his best till last to produce a 1:25.819s to lead a Mercedes 1-2 at Silverstone as Norris was unable to improve and had to settle for third place.
Piastri also couldn’t go faster and was resigned to fifth, while Nico Hulkenberg in the Haas edged out Sainz’s standalone Ferrari to claim an impressive sixth position.
Lance Stroll was the fastest Aston Martin driver when it counted to seize eighth place, with Williams’ Alex Albon beating Fernando Alonso to ninth place at Silverstone.
