Russell beats Hamilton to pole at Silverstone as Norris completes all-British top three

George Russell clinched an impressive pole position in qualifying for the British Grand Prix, with the Mercedes team locking out the front row after Lewis Hamilton claimed second place.

Having set the initial pace during the first runs of Q3, Russell improved further on his final effort by pumping in a time of 1m 25.819s, putting him 0.171s clear of Hamilton, while Lando Norris followed in third for McLaren to complete an all-British top three.

Max Verstappen could only manage fourth in the Red Bull, having seemingly been hampered by an earlier trip through the gravel at Copse, and Oscar Piastri took fifth for McLaren. Nico Hulkenberg, meanwhile, caught the eye by going sixth in the Haas, ahead of Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz.

Lance Stroll and Fernando Alonso enjoyed a better day for Aston Martin than during recent weekends, having secured P8 and P10 on the grid respectively, as Williams’ Alex Albon slotted between them in P9.

It was a disappointing day for Charles Leclerc, the Ferrari being pushed into the elimination zone of Q2 to end the session in P11. He will start alongside the Williams of Logan Sargeant in P12, marking the American's best qualifying performance of the year.

The RB pair of Yuki Tsunoda and Daniel Ricciardo exited in 13th and 15th respectively, with the Kick Sauber of Zhou Guanyu between them in 14th place.

Valtteri Bottas just missed out on progressing to Q2 in the Kick Sauber, putting him in P16, while the Haas of Kevin Magnussen followed in P17 after an excursion at Copse in the final minutes of the segment.

Alpine’s Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly were a disappointing P18 and P20 – though Gasly was already set to start from the back due to a penalty for taking on new power unit elements – while Sergio Perez had a disaster after becoming beached in the gravel in the opening minutes of the session. Having been unable to rejoin, the Red Bull driver lines up in P19.

AS IT HAPPENED

Q1 – Hamilton sets the pace as Perez suffers early exit

After three busy practice sessions across Friday and Saturday – with the final hour taking place in wet conditions – the drivers and teams assembled for qualifying to decide the grid for Sunday’s British Grand Prix.

While the rain had been falling on and off throughout the day, the sun started to break through as Q1 got under way in dry weather at 1500 local time. Intermediate tyres were still in order for the first drivers on track, however, amid the chance of further showers standing at 60%.

Verstappen set an early benchmark as the initial round of laps came in, putting in a time of 1m 37.518s to go 0.089s ahead of Norris, while the Mercedes pair of Russell and Hamilton followed in third and fourth on the timesheets.

It wasn’t all smooth sailing for Norris, having had a bit of a slide which – fortunately for the Briton – did not prevent him from completing his lap. Meanwhile, with around 10 minutes left on the clock, the likes of Leclerc and Bottas were the first to opt for slick tyres, both heading out on the soft compound.

Just as others started to join them by switching to the softs, Q1 was brought to a halt when Perez found himself beached in the gravel at Copse. Replays showed the Red Bull driver suffered a snap of oversteer before going off the track, a less-than-ideal scenario for the Mexican after a tough run of weekends.

Meanwhile, a queue of drivers formed in the pit lane to await the resumption of Q1, with everyone keen to get their laps in prior to any further showers. And just as the pack headed out with seven minutes remaining, it looked like the rain was indeed on the way as fans in the grandstands reached for their ponchos.

There was trouble for Stroll, who was set to be investigated after the session for leaving the pit exit on a red light, while a pit lane incident involving both Stroll and Alonso was noted. Out on track there was also drama for Verstappen, with the world champion having a bit of an off at Copse where he luckily managed to avoid the fate of his team mate.

Magnussen subsequently had an excursion in the same corner, while the laps were flying in as those at risk tried to get themselves out of danger. Hamilton went to the top of the timesheets on a 1m 29.547s, while Zhou impressively put his Kick Sauber up into P8.

Amid a frantic final few minutes, Verstappen and Norris could only manage P11 and P13 respectively, but others were not so lucky. Bottas just missed out on making it to Q2, as did Magnussen, while the Alpine duo of Ocon and Gasly suffered a slump from their form of late, ending the session in P18 and P20.

Perez was the biggest name to exit down in P19, having been unable to rejoin the session following his trip into the gravel.

Knocked out: Bottas, Magnussen, Ocon, Perez, Gasly

Q2 – Norris leads the way and Leclerc gets pushed out

It was again a busy start as the lights went green for Q2, with Albon leading a queue of cars out onto the track. With race control confirming that normal grip conditions were at play – and that DRS was enabled – everybody was out on the soft tyre for their opening laps.

Norris found himself on top with his effort of 1m 27.432s amid the first runs, before being displaced by the Aston Martin of Alonso. The Williams pair were also catching the eye, with Albon and Sargeant both at stages featuring in the top 10.

Sainz had taken over the P1 slot as the segment reached its halfway point, but the order continued to change as the minutes ticked down, with Piastri going quickest before Hulkenberg impressively became the fastest driver amid a drying track.

As the session entered into its final minutes, Stroll, Leclerc, Zhou, Tsunoda and Ricciardo were the names at risk, just as Norris, Russell and Hamilton again set an all-British top three. Verstappen, meanwhile, was in danger in P10, resulting in the Red Bull man heading out for another lap.

While the order changed further as the last flying laps went on the board, Norris remained on top while Verstappen hauled himself up into P6. And as Stroll sneaked through into P10, this pushed the Ferrari of Leclerc out, leaving him in P11.

Sargeant also failed to progress to Q3 but still managed a decent P12, ahead of Tsunoda in P13, Zhou in P14 and Ricciardo rounding out the eliminated drivers in P15.

Knocked out: Leclerc, Sargeant, Tsunoda, Zhou, Ricciardo

Q3 – Russell clinches pole as Mercedes lock out front row

While Q3 started off quietly, the Red Bull mechanics looked busy just before the session began, with the crew seemingly assessing whether Verstappen's earlier trip through the gravel at Copse may have caused any damage to the floor of his RB20.

The Dutchman was soon back out on track, however, as the top-10 shootout commenced. After Norris looked to be on course for provisional pole, the McLaren man was then displaced by Russell, who went quickest on a lap of 1m 26.024s to go just six thousandths of a second clear of Norris. Hamilton, meanwhile, had slotted into third.

Focus then turned to the final flying runs, with the Williams of Albon leading the pack out. Verstappen’s effort suffered early on after the world champion lost time in the first sector, and this left him in fourth place.

Up at the front, the crowd cheered as Hamilton looked to have secured pole. However, Russell then swept through to steal the accolade from his team mate, having improved on his initial time to pump in a 1m 25.819s. Norris took third, marking an all-British top three at Silverstone.

Verstappen ended the session in fourth, ahead of Piastri in fifth, while Hulkenberg enjoyed another impressive qualifying performance by going sixth fastest for Haas. Sainz followed in seventh, leading from Stroll and Albon, with Alonso rounding out the top 10.

Key quote

"What a feeling, what a feeling!" a thrilled Russell said after the session. "At the start of this year we couldn’t have even dreamt of being on pole here, and a one-two for Lewis and I, Lando in P3… It’s just mega. It’s down to all these fans as well, they give us so much energy, so thank you so much for that."

What's next

The 2024 British Grand Prix is set to begin at 1500 local time on Sunday. Head to the RACE HUB to find out how you can catch the action from Silverstone.