Originally posted on my old blog 02/08/2020
Not the most exciting qualifying of the year so far, but entertaining nonetheless. There were a few surprises scattered across the session but not on the front row of the grid, where it was another Mercedes lock out, their 8thconsecutive at Silverstone and a record for front row lockouts at a single venue. They were miles ahead of the rest of the pack, with Max Verstappen over a second behind Hamilton in third. The session wasn’t without its faults for the pole sitter though as he made an uncharacteristic mistake, spinning at Luffeild and red flagging Q2.
The Racing Point’s were slower than perhaps expected, but for someone who has not stepped foot in an F1 car since December Nico Hulkenberg impressed, despite only managing to qualify 13th. Lance Stroll made it out of Q1 for the first time at Silverstone to place his car in 6th. It was a mixed bag at Ferrari, with Vettel only achieving 10thand Leclerc surprising everyone, including himself, with 4th. It should be interesting seeing him line up along Verstappen for the start. It was a woeful day for Alex Albon though, as he continued to struggle with his car; failing to get out of Q2 he could only manage P12.
Of the other British drivers besides Hamilton, Lando Norris had a great day at the office, out qualifying his teammate Sainz with an impressive P5. George Russell managed to get his Williams out of Q1 for the third weekend in a row, but a five place grid penalty for failing to slow under yellow flags when his teammate spun pushed him right to the back of the grid. It looks likely that it will be a British driver on the top step of the podium this afternoon, but if the racing is even half as good as it was at Silverstone last year and the midfield continues to serve us up the fabulous battles we’ve been treated to so far this season I’m sure it will be an unpredictable and brilliant race.
