British Grand Prix: Max Verstappen, Lewis Hamilton, Lando Norris and more set for unpredictable Silverstone battle | F1 News
The British Grand Prix seems ready to offer an unpredictable battle for the victory between the big names of the grid on Sunday in the middle of the fascinating and different approaches to win the race.
Only a week after McLaren dominated the Austrian Grand Prix, the battle to direct the Silverstone field was much less clear with Ferrari and Red Bull who set up a strong challenge for world championships.
In an exciting five -way battle for pole position, it was the Max Verstappen of Red Bull that delivered under pressure with a last brilliant round while rivals were left to the height of small expensive errors.
Verstappen shares the first row with the leader of the Oscar Piastri championship, who is a place in front of his teammate in McLaren and his main rival Lando Norris in third.
The duo of Ferrari Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc had appeared firmly in the running for the first row in the middle of a good start of the weekend for the Scuderia, but were fell behind George Russell in the third row after a final effort of the Verstappen type which had been noted from what had so far been a discreet weekend for silver arrows.
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Anthony Davidson of Sky Sports F1 Analysis how Max Verstappen was able to qualify the fastest
The first six of the grid were divided by only two tenths of a second to highlight the fine margins of this weekend,
And Verstappen, who followed a different way of installing the car to his rivals after struggling on Friday, expects things just as close to the 52 -round race distance.
“I can see a good battle,” predicted the quadruple world champion, who hangs out Piastri from 61 points in the standings.
“Even in long races, there were a lot of cars that were fast and even in qualifying, everything was quite tight. Very different time gains, some fast in the straight lines, some fast in the corners. I think it is who can keep their tires alive during the passage.”
“In the race, we had a little more trouble on the life of the tires and I do not know how it will be.
“We also have to wait and see how the time will generally be if there will be rain or rain.
“I can’t wait to be there. I’m not really in a battle, so try to have fun and get the best possible result.”
“Fast and slow in different places” – whose configuration will prove to be the victory?
Not for the first time this season, Verstappen and Red Bull put themselves in the running while it had to qualify only 24 hours after fighting with their RB21 car throughout a difficult Friday.
In an attempt to compose the understeer that had tormented them through practice, Red Bull chose a lower configuration of the force – something that has left Verstappen prodigiously rapid towards the straight lines of Silverstone.
However, there is generally a compromise with such an approach.
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Max Verstappen says he expects an exciting British GP, who qualified for pole
Verstappen’s car is not as fast as the McLarens and Ferraris in certain high -speed corners, where the support force is king, and could be more vulnerable to tire wear through the Grand Prix than those with higher parameters.
Having been revised by their main rival of qualifications, the drivers of McLaren certainly hope that the cards would finally fall back in their favor.
Norris, who drags Piastri 15 points in the championship, said: “It is difficult, honestly, to know until you find yourself and you look dirty and DRS and things like that.
“To be honest, at the minute, our DRS speed probably corresponds roughly at the speed of Max. So I think it will be difficult because we will probably catch it at high speed, but we do not really close much when we open the DR.
“I think it can be difficult, but there are also probably more opportunities than a normal race … Between everyone, we are fast and slow in different places.”
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Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris discuss how they can challenge Max Verstappen
Piastri said Sky Sports F1: There are a few opportunities [to win]. Obviously, the beginning is the main thing, but the levels of support in which we execute are very different from Max, so there are opportunities in both directions.
“In addition, the tires. Yesterday, they were difficult to take care of, so we will see what kind of challenges they bring. I think there will be a few opportunities.”
He added: “It was also interesting with other teams, it is not always just the support force more than you have faster than you are in every corner. Some of the corners that we are even slower than the Red Bull and Max. So, it’s not that simple, but I think it will be an interesting thing to see tomorrow.
“ Where there is a will, there is a means ” – Hamilton does not eligate Ferrari
But for an understeer shot in the last corner of his last round in the third quarter, Hamilton thinks he would have qualified second on a track where he finished on the podium 12 times in a row.
The seven time world champion exceeded the time sheet during the opening training session on Friday and would probably have done again on Saturday morning if Franco Colapinto had not crushed in the barriers and had released a red flag.
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Lewis Hamilton says it will be difficult to beat the McLarens or the Red Bulls but remains hopeful
After a “decent” weekend in the Ferrari, he hopes that home support and rain potential could stimulate his hopes to win in Silverstone for the second consecutive year.
“I think it will be very, very difficult to beat the McLarens or the Red Bulls, but when there is a will, there is a means,” he said Sky Sports F1.
“I’m going to give him absolutely everything tomorrow. We are a bit far behind where I want to be, but with time and this incredible crowd …”
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Max Verstappen stormed to take the post while Lewis Hamilton only qualified fifth at the British Grand Prix.
And what about time?
Raws are planned for Silverstone on Sunday and this could even bring Russell – who qualified a fourth surprise in a Mercedes who fought in warmer conditions – in the front mixture.
“I think that recent forms show that we are probably not going to be the strongest in the rhythm of the race, but it looks a little cooler and that is good news for us,” said Russell.
The rain potential is also in Piastri’s mind. “Of course, we are in England, so time is never far away,” he joked by discussing the opportunities he has to revise Verstappen at the front.
The race seems to be as unpredictable as British time – and that means that it should not be missed.
British Sky Sports F1 GP schedule
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Return to some of the most dramatic moments over the years at the British Grand Prix.
Sunday July 6
8:15 am: F4 Race 2
9:25 am: F3 functionality breed
11 am: F2 Race Feature
1:30 p.m.: Grand Prix Sunday: British GP Build-Up *
3 p.m.: The British Grand Prix *
5 p.m.: Damy flag: British reaction GP *
6 p.m.: Ted * notebook
* Also on the main event of Sky Sports
The next stage of the Formula 1 season in 2025 is the big, the British Grand Prix in Silverstone – live on Sky Sports F1 and Sky Showcase with the Sunday race at 3 p.m. Stream Sky Sports with now – no contract, cancel at any time.
