Seeing Max Verstappen on pole does not surprise anyone at this point, but from then on there can be no more surprises. The first two rows of the grid are completed by Lando Norris, Oscar Piastri and Alex Albon, leading McLaren and Williams, two true pillars of British motorsport, to the top at their home circuit.
Pride in Silverstone that Aston Martin could not join, which made good that no one is a prophet in his land. If the green team was being the best for a long time this year, what better than to fail at home (literally). Fernando Alonso did not have his best day and had to settle for a 9th place start that will force him to overcome, among others, Carlos Sainz, who will start fifth.
Q1: Fifth disaster for Sergio Pérez
The rain that fell in the morning caused the track to start with a wet track. Not stalled, not with many problems and, in fact, some even dared to go out on dry tyres. As the lane became, the times went down, with Fernando Alonso gritting his teeth. In scrambled circuit, you know.
Although there were no major problems or serious off-roading to be regretted, there was a red flag with three minutes to go that caused chaos. When one of the Alfa Romeos, Valtteri Bottas’s, was stranded, as soon as the session resumed, it forced all the drivers to grit their teeth so as not to be left out at the first change. Faced with this situation, even Max Verstappen himself succumbed to nerves, who when trying to get out of the box hit the wall and broke a wing.
As the pilots left, chaos. Completing a good lap turned out to be a daunting challenge, and not everyone got over it. Overtaking to the limit even between teammates (Leclerc’s enormous anger when Sainz took his place in the last corner) and not a few errors led to a resolution not suitable for the faint of heart. The first disappointment, which is not new, was starred again by Sergio Pérez. A week after the Paseo de la Castellana in Madrid was cut, the Mexican starred in a new disaster again: the fifth consecutive time that he did not go to Q3, the third time of the year that he stayed in Q1. He was not accompanied by Fernando Alonso by very little, but luck was with the Spaniard this time. In addition to Pérez, Tsunoda, Zhou, De Vries and Magnussen fell.
Q2: “I’m pushing!”
Although the rain stopped and the track was remarkably dry, the tension did not ease one bit. In fact, when Verstappen (who was the fastest: nothing new here) was asked to push to the maximum (“Keep pushing!”, a true classic), he replied with a certain bad humor: “I’m already doing it!” .
But beyond that and an incident between Lance Stroll and Esteban Ocon, two of the most aggressive drivers on the grid and which ended with the Canadian (who races at home: Silverstone is the headquarters of Aston Martin), there were no big surprises. . With Fernando Alonso and Carlos Sainz passing the cut with much more calm than in the previous appointment, Nico Hulkenberg, Lance Stroll, Esteban Ocon and Logan Sargeant were left out (in addition to the obvious Valtteri Bottas).
Q3: Alonso’s worst classification
For the second consecutive Saturday, Fernando Alonso was not at his usual brilliant level. The Asturian pilot was far behind what was expected in a final session in which he aspired to be second on the grid (because the name of the first was already in the hands of the usual one), he made an untimely mistake on his final lap . What could have been a great home result for Aston Martin (literally) turned out to be the worst result so far this season. Alonso was not comfortable and an untimely blow from the tail when he was entering his last turn prevented him from leaving in the upper area. Luckily at Silverstone he can overtake, otherwise 9th place on the grid would taste much more sour for him.
Those who were partying were the McLaren drivers. The chrome decoration (by Chrome, the main sponsor) of Lando Norris and the rookie Oscar Piastri gave them not only luck, but an extra push that surprised all and sundry. After starting the season as a disappointing team (because nothing is expected from Ferrari except to hurt themselves), they have hit the table in the form of second and third position respectively at their home circuit.
The cries of the British fans went mainly towards Norris, but not only: and it is that Piastri’s third position silences the mouths of those who criticized him for not meeting the expectations of those who saw in him the great jewel of future motorsport. For McLaren it’s a tremendous coup… and also for Aston Martin, who didn’t expect to be so far behind at their home GP.
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