Max Verstappen silences Silverstone with stunning British GP pole

Max Verstappen silenced Silverstone to deny McLaren pole position for the British Grand Prix, following a staggering final effort in qualifying. 

The four-time world champion was the last to complete his final Q3 lap and set a blistering 1m 24.892, pipping Oscar Piastri to pole position. 

It was a six-way fight for pole which went down to the final seconds, with Lando Norris, George Russell and Lewis Hamilton completing the top five on the grid.

Qualifying was largely incident-free, with the exception of a brief red flag in Q1 after Franco Colapinto was forced to stop after spinning at the final corner. 

Report continues below!

Q3 - Verstappen brilliance

With McLaren, Ferrari and Verstappen having all shown pace during qualifying, a five-way fight for pole position was expected in front of a huge British crowd. 

It was provisional pole for Piastri after the first hot laps on a 1m 24.995, but with Hamilton in second just 0.135s adrift. 

Norris in third was the only other driver within two-tenths of his team-mate, whilst Verstappen and Leclerc were nearly three-tenths adrift in fourth and fifth. It meant it was advantage Piastri ahead of the final qualifying laps. 

McLaren's duo were the first to complete their final lap, whilst Verstappen was the last. Norris crossed the line first but failed to pip Piastri's time, with the Australian having also not improved. 

Russell delivered a stunning lap to knock Hamilton to fourth; however, it was all eyes on Verstappen who went purple through the first two sectors.

The Dutchman delivered to snatch pole position by 0.103s, ahead of Piastri, Norris, Russell, Hamilton, Leclerc, Kimi Antonelli, Oliver Bearman, Fernando Alonso and Pierre Gasly.

Q2 - Tsunoda suffers latest early exit

Following a frantic end to Q1, the rain drops decreased, with there having been a mix of drivers on new and used soft tyres. 

Both Ferrari drivers set their initial Q2 laps on used tyres, leaving Hamilton and Leclerc in a worrying 11th and 13th. In addition, Antonelli and Tsunoda found themselves in 12th and 15th after the first laps in the second part of qualifying. 

At the front, Norris led the way ahead of Verstappen and Piastri who set identical lap times; however, all three drivers used a new set of soft tyres. It put significant pressure on both Ferraris, Antonelli and Tsunoda ahead of their final Q2 laps on new tyres. 

Hamilton and Leclerc both did the business to safely progress to Q3, with the final Q2 laps having seen significant improvement. One driver who barely improved was Tsunoda, resulting in yet another early qualifying exit. 

The Japanese driver had to settle for 12th, and was joined in the drop zone by Carlos Sainz, Isack Hadjar, Alex Albon and Esteban Ocon.

Remarkably, Hamilton led a Ferrari one-two in Q2 ahead of Norris, courtesy of a 1m 25.084.

Q1 - Colapinto triggers red flag

As qualifying got underway, drops of rain were present around Silverstone but not significant enough for soft tyres not to be used. Colapinto spun on his second push lap at the final corner but miraculously escaped the gravel, despite having struck the barrier. 

Despite the Alpine driver escaping the gravel trap, he was forced to stop which triggered a red flag with just under seven minutes remaining and eliminated the Argentinian from qualifying. 

When the session resumed, the remaining 19 drivers head out due to remarkable track evolution., although reported that the rain drops had increased. 

It was Gabriel Bortoleto, Ocon, Nico Hulkenberg and Gasly in the drop zone when the green flag was waved. Antonelli and Tsunoda were also at risk in 13th and 15th, respectively.

Ocon and Gasly both escaped the drop zone, at the expense of Liam Lawson and Lance Stroll. Lawson finished in 16th, ahead of Bortoleto, Stroll, Hulkenberg and Colapinto.

Verstappen topped the first part of qualifying on a 1m 25.886, ahead of Piastri and an impressive Bearman.