Great Britain – Qualifying: Hamilton pushes hard to beat Vettel!
Lewis Hamilton takes pole position at his home race after an intense battle with Sebastian Vettel. Kimi Räikkönen will start from third place. A great session for our French drivers, with Romain Grosjean in eighth place and Esteban Ocon in tenth. Between them, another impressive performance from Charles Leclerc!
Still under bright sunshine, this tenth qualifying session of the season took place among 19 drivers. Injured in the last free practice session, Brendon Hartley was forced to withdraw, giving the Toro Rosso mechanics time to repair the damaged car. Fortunately for the Faenza team, Pierre Gasly was able to participate in the Qualifications after a thorough inspection of his car. The Norman, however, reported some vibrations on the rear tires when he set off.
Home Nightmare for Williams, Sainz also eliminated!
The first part of the session was fatal to the ambitions of the English team, nine-time world constructors’ champions. Under the eyes of Frank Williams, both drivers did not surpass Q1 for the sixth time this season. Worse, Lance Stroll crashed on his own on his first run. In Q2 a week ago, the Quebecer this time ended his session in the gravel trap of the sixth corner, the left-hand curve of Brooklands. No damage but an immobilization that looks bad.
🚩RED FLAG 🚩@lance_stroll is beached in the gravel at Brooklands #BritishGP 🇬🇧 #F1 pic.twitter.com/GnjMqMrW1M
— Formula 1 (@F1) 7 juillet /f1/actualite/22819-grande-bretagne-essais-libres-3-hamilton-meilleur-temps-toro-rosso-et-un-crash-qui-inquiete.html
On his side, Sergey Sirotkin is not far behind. The Russian avoided the worst by losing the rear end of the FW41 before the fifteenth turn, just after the second DRS zone of the circuit. On a single attempt, driver #35 set the last time, 2.6 seconds off the best time set by Vettel.
More Q1 problems for @WilliamsRacing @sirotkin_sergey comes off at Stowe but has managed to limp back to the pits #BritishGP 🇬🇧 #F1 pic.twitter.com/Xn9yUba3Lh
— Formula 1 (@F1) July 7
To accompany Hartley and the two Williams, Stoffel Vandoorne and Carlos Sainz. The Belgian finished Q1 in 17th position, still too far from Alonso, nine-tenths behind this time. More surprisingly, the Spanish Renault driver, consistently present in Q3 until then, was stuck in 16th place, ousted by his own teammate, four-tenths ahead of him. Carlos Sainz complained about traffic, hindered by Kevin Magnussen.
Eliminated in Q1: Sainz, Vandoorne, Sirotkin, Stroll, Hartley
New sensational move by Leclerc!
After an easy start, it’s time for the big chronos for the favorites. The track record was already erased in the first run, with Lewis Hamilton clocking a 1:26:256 on soft tires. The Englishman was ahead of Vettel and Bottas by just over a tenth. In the battle for passage to Q3, both Haas placed on the right side, Grosjean seventh and Magnussen eighth before returning to the pits, two-tenths ahead of Hülkenberg, in provisional eleventh. The end of the session did not change the established order. Except for Gasly, no driver improved their time! The top 10 thus remained unchanged, to the great satisfaction of our French drivers, Grosjean and Ocon, as well as the French-speaking Charles Leclerc, who earned his second Q3 of the season! Six-tenths ahead of his teammate Ericsson (15th!), the comparison is still in favor of the Monegasque hopeful!
