Verstappen grabs surprise pole as he fractionally beats McLarens

Max Verstappen stormed to a surprise British Grand Prix pole position with a stunning final lap that was enough to beat both McLaren Formula 1 drivers.

With Ferrari, and Lewis Hamilton in particular, seeming the most likely to challenge Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris, it was instead reigning world champion Verstappen who put in a final lap of 1m24.892s to snatch top spot.

Championship leader Piastri will start on the front row after a small error on his last effort left him unable to improve, with Norris the top of the home favourites but only able to go third fastest for McLaren.

He will head an all-British second row as George Russell was fourth for Mercedes.

Ferrari had threatened to steal McLaren’s thunder following a strong start to the weekend but Hamilton could only manage fifth due to a scrappy final sector on his last flying lap, while the sister Ferrari of Charles Leclerc will start alongside.

Rookies Andrea Kimi Antonelli and Oliver Bearman were next up but both have penalties for the race, with Antonelli dropping three places following his crash into Verstappen in Austria last week, while Bearman was hit with a 10-place penalty for the second time this season due to a red-flag infringement in FP3.

Fernando Alonso took ninth for Aston Martin but will be pleased to start seventh, alongside the Alpine of Pierre Gasly.

Ferrari looked in minor peril towards the end of Q2 but had saved a fresh set of tyres for both drivers, who delivered under the pressure of one lap, Hamilton just pipping Leclerc for the fastest time.

It was not to be for Williams, however, with Carlos Sainz coming home 11th and Alex Albon 14th, while the second Red Bull of Yuki Tsunoda and Isack Hadjar of Racing Bulls were also knocked out – although the penalties for Antonelli and Bearman at least boost some further up the grid.

With continuing question marks over Franco Colapinto’s seat at Alpine, the last thing the Argentinian needed was to crash out in Q1 to end his qualifying prematurely – especially with Gasly’s performance on the other side of the garage.

Having spun off at the final corner, he initially kept the car running and got back on track after minimal contact with the wall, but – as Alpine advisor Flavio Briatore put his head in his hands – the red flag was brought out as Colapinto’s car came to a halt and required rescue.

The others eliminated in Q1 were Liam Lawson, who ran wide in his Racing Bull on his final flying lap, while Lance Stroll’s Aston Martin was sandwiched between the Saubers of Gabriel Bortoleto and Nico Hulkenberg.

F1 British GP results – qualifying