British GP Sprint Facts & Stats: Verstappen halts Mercedes run, and a new record for Raikkonen

Saturday saw an historic first at Silverstone – pole for the British Grand Prix decided by the inaugural F1 Sprint. Max Verstappen and Red Bull took the honours after a scintillating duel with Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes, and the 17-lap thriller also threw up plenty of other must-know numbers…

• Verstappen has a 4th consecutive pole position and extends his championship lead by 1 additional point.

• Verstappen ended Mercedes' run of 9 consecutive Silverstone poles (a record for 1 constructor at a circuit).

REPORT: Verstappen beats Hamilton in thrilling F1 Sprint at Silverstone to claim pole position for British GP

• Verstappen has led 144 consecutive laps in Grands Prix this year - and now every lap of the first ever F1 Sprint. He has now passed 1,000 laps led in his career if you take both formats into account.

• Tomorrow will be Verstappen’s first-ever front row start for a Grand Prix at Silverstone.

• Hamilton will be on the front row at Silverstone for the 8th consecutive Grand Prix held here.

• Hamilton has now have gone 6 races without a pole – his longest such streak since 2019.

• Valtteri Bottas will be 3rd on the grid for the 5th time in 2021 – he has only had 1 front-row start this year.

• Verstappen-Hamilton-Bottas were the top 3 in the Sprint, having previously been the top 3 (in various orders) 17 times in Grands Prix, an F1 record.

READ MORE: Sprint winner Verstappen 'really worried' about brake issues on lap 1 after fire on grid

• Charles Leclerc will start from P4 for Ferrari tomorrow – his highest grid position since taking consecutive poles in Monaco and Azerbaijan.

• Leclerc finished on the podium from 4th on the grid in last year’s British GP.

• McLaren’s Lando Norris will start from P5 – he finished 5th from 5th on the grid at the 2020 British GP.

• Team mate Daniel Ricciardo will start 6th to mark the 10th anniversary of his F1 debut.

• That grid slot ties Ricciardo’s highest start of the 2021 season, which he achieved in Bahrain and Imola.

• With 7th in the Sprint, Alpine’s Fernando Alonso secured his highest start of 2021 to date.

F1 Sprint Moment: Watch as Alonso brilliantly charges from P11 to P5 at the start

• And with team mate Esteban Ocon in P10, it will be only the 2nd time this season after Spain that both Alpines will start in the top 10.

• Sebastian Vettel’s 8th for Aston Martin ties his highest start of the season so far.

• George Russell’s 9th will be Williams’ highest start at Silverstone since Bottas’s P6 on the grid in 2016.

READ MORE: ‘There was nothing more I could have done’ says Russell, after first lap contact with Sainz in F1 Sprint

• P11 for Carlos Sainz means the Ferrari star faces a 3rd consecutive race where he has started 10th or lower – he went on to finish in the top 6 in both of those previous races.

• Pierre Gasly’s P12 for AlphaTauri ties his lowest start of the year, which was in Spain, the only other time he's started outside the top 10.

• With P13, Kimi Raikkonen bagged his highest start of 2021 as he becomes the first man to race at the same track 20 times in his F1 career.

• Red Bull’s Sergio Perez is set to start last tomorrow after his off in the Sprint – his previous best finish when starting a GP 20th or lower was 8th from 22nd on the grid in Australia 2012.