George Russell leads British 1-2-3 after securing pole position

Mercedes’ George Russell secured his third career pole position at his home race, the British Grand Prix, ahead of teammate Lewis Hamilton and McLaren’s Lando Norris. 

Feature image credit: Mercedes F1

Russell led Mercedes to their first front-row lockout since the 2022 Brazilian Grand Prix which the pole-sitter won that season. Equally, the two-time race winner led a British 1-2-3 in qualifying at the British GP ahead of Hamilton and Norris. 

Qualifying wasn’t without issue as a result of the mixed conditions out on track. Red Bull’s Sergio Perez was knocked out of Q1 after he beached his car in the gravel trap at Copse Corner. 

Reigning world champion, Max Verstappen was not able to challenge for pole in his usual fashion as he wounded his RB20 by going over the gravel at Copse in Q1. 

Q1

It was a damp start for the qualifying session ahead of the British GP as all of the drivers opted to start on the green-walled intermediate tyres. 

When the session got to the halfway mark, the drivers opted to risk it for a slick-tyre run as the track had dried significantly. However, the session was soon red-flagged after Perez beached his car at Copse. 

When the session got back to running, the lap times began to tumble which cemented in Perez’s untimely elimination from Q1. 

However, his triple world champion teammate, Verstappen also skipped across the gravel at Copse causing damage to his floor. The Dutchman was able to continue on to progress to Q2.

Eliminations: 

20 – Pierre Gasly, Alpine

19 – Sergio Perez, Red Bull Racing

18 – Esteban Ocon, Alpine

17 – Kevin Magnussen, Haas

16 – Valtteri Bottas, Kick Sauber

Q2

When the pit exit light turned green, to signal the start of Q2, there was a big queue to head out on track. However, as the conditions were dry it meant the field of 15 drivers could head out on the soft compound tyres. 

It was revealed in Q2 that Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll was under investigation for exiting the pit lane, with a red exit light, when Perez brought out the red flag in Q1. 

Verstappen continued to struggle with his wounded RB20 as he sat in fifth place after setting his banker lap. He was back out shortly in a bid to progress into Q3. 

Eliminations: 

15 – Daniel Ricciardo

14 – Zhou Guanyu

13 – Yuki Tsunoda

12 – Logan Sargeant

11 – Charles Leclerc

Q3

Although Verstappen had floor damage on his championship contender, the triple-world champion still set a competitive benchmark for the remaining nine drivers to beat. 

However, this was soon beaten by the likes of Piastri, Norris and Hamilton respectively. Russell soon took the provisional pole position ahead of Norris and Hamilton respectively. 

In the dying minutes, all of the drivers slowly filtered back out. Fortunately, all 10 drivers crossed the timing line to set their final laps with three seconds to spare. 

In the end, Hamilton briefly took pole positon before his teammate Russell snatched it from under his feet by a tenth of a second, securing his third pole position – and his second of 2024. 

Top 10: 

10 – Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin

9 – Alexander Albon, Williams

8 – Lance Stoll, Aston Martin

7 – Carlos Sainz, Ferrari

6 – Nico Hulkenberg, Haas

5 – Oscar Piastri, McLaren

4 – Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing

3 – Lando Norris, McLaren

2 – Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes

1 – George Russell, Mercedes

Read more Formula 1 here:

• Sergio Perez OUT of British GP qualifying after beaching at Copse
• Russell led wet FP3 at British GP whilst Gasly beached at Vale
• Norris completes Friday clean sweep at British GP with fastest FP2 lap
• Norris Fastest in British GP FP1 ahead of Stroll and Piastri
• Brad Pitt F1 movie finally named ahead of British GP
• Oliver Bearman signs ‘multi-year’ F1 deal with Haas for 2025

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