AutoAction
FREE DIGITAL MAGAZINE SIGN UP

BOTTAS EDGES HAMILTON FOR BRITISH GP POLE

By Heath McAlpine

It was a jubilant Valtteri Bottas that took pole at Silverstone. Image: LATIn what was an incredibly tight Qualifying session Mercedes driver Valtteri Bottas edged teammate Lewis Hamilton to take pole position for the British Grand Prix.

After a mistake on his first Q3 lap Hamilton had it all to do on his final attempt, in which the British driver came to within 0.006s of his Finnish teammate’s time of 1m 25.093s.

Daniel Ricciardo qualified behind the big three teams as best of the rest in seventh place, his Renault teammate Nico Hulkenberg also made it into Q3 and finished 10th.

After setting two purple sectors Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc failed to put together a lap, qualifying third, only 0.079s behind pole sitter Bottas. Leclerc will start on the soft tyres while the Mercedes will start on the mediums.

Max Verstappen will start alongside the Monegasque driver in fourth after setting a lap time of 1m 25.276s.

Verstappen’s Red Bull teammate Pierre Gasley has had a strong weekend in England and his pace carried over into qualifying, starting fifth.

Sebastian Vettel had a day to forget, the German driver only just progressed out of the second qualifying session after the chequered flag and in Q3 could only set a time good enough to start from sixth position on the grid.

Ricciardo will start on the fourth row alongside Lando Norris making his first start in his home Grand Prix.

While Thailand Toro Rosso driver Alexander Albon will start ninth alongside Hulkenberg. The two Alfa Romeo Saubers just missed out on Q3, Antonio Giovinazzi will start ahead of his former British Grand Prix winning teammate Kimi Raikkonen.

For more of the latest Formula 1 news pick up the current issue of Auto Action. Also make sure you follow us on social media FacebookTwitter, Instagram or our weekly email newsletter for all the latest updates between issues.