Lewis Hamilton claimed his second career pole at Silverstone and the 28th of his career ahead of the British Grand Prix. The Mercedes driver outpaced his teammate Nico Rosberg on the final lap of qualifying after being trumped just seconds before.
The Mercedes duo have dominated the weekend thus far, with Rosberg taking the fastest time in the final two practice sessions Friday and Saturday. Hamilton meanwhile continues his strong form after taking third last time out at the Canadian Grand Prix.
Starting behind the Silver Arrows is Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel, who took a commanding win last round, followed by teammate Mark Webber. The Australian driver recently announced he will be leaving Formula One following this season to race in Porsche’s new LMP1 Le Mans program. Vettel’s pace has been reminiscent of his last three championship seasons, and with the team order drama that unfolded in China earlier this year, look for the two drivers to battle head-to-head for position on Sunday.
The Ferrari squad struggled for form and pace this weekend. For the third time in three race weekends, Felipe Massa was involved in a non-race crash that required the team to perform extensive repairs to get his car on track in time for qualifying. Teammate Fernando Alonso – who sits second in the standings behind Vettel – seemed to struggle with steering or suspension issues during qualifying as well. The two will start 12th and 10th, respectively.
Surprising everyone in the paddock Saturday was the pace of the two Force India cars of Paul Di Resta and Adrian Sutil, as well as Toro Rosso driver Daniel Ricciardo. Di Resta and Sutil start fifth and seventh, while Ricciardo’s impressive performance puts him top ten on the grid for the third time this season.
Rumours continue to swirl in the Lotus garage about the future of Kimi Raikkonen after Webber announced his retirement plans, and the current Silverstone lap-record holder was only able to manage ninth on the grid in a car that clearly didn’t show pace. The Fin currently sits third in the standings ahead of Hamilton, and will be looking to jump ahead of his teammate Romain Grosjean, who starts one place ahead in eighth.
Jenson Button and Sergio Perez continue what has been a difficult season for the Woking-based McLaren team, who were hoping for a stronger qualifying result in their home race. In the second session, Button complained of understeer issues that result in him starting from 11th. Perez finished half a second back from Button and starts from 14th.
Track conditions should be optimal for all 52 laps at the 5.89 kilometre circuit, with coverage starting tomorrow at 7:55 a.m. (EST) on TSN in Canada.
