Based on the results of the three free practices, we expected a surprise, and we were not disappointed: "Floating" Red Bull Racing, resurgent Mercedes, and a damn strong McLaren characterized Saturday.
Q1 started in wet conditions, but if there was no rain, it was expected that we would reach the changeover point by the end of the stage. After the first fast laps, Max Verstappen was in the lead, and by the time the slicks were put on, Sergio Perez threw himself into the gravel, which ended qualifying for him. Red flag! After the restart, the field did not have time for quite a dry lap, which caused a hell of a mess on the slicks. The stage was eventually won by the two Mercedes ahead of Charles Leclerc, while the two Alpines, Kevin Magnussen and Valterri Bottas, retired early.
By Q2, the conditions seemed to be normalizing, but the balance of power was not, the leaders were constantly changing. Fernando Alonso and Nico Hülkenberg led the second stage, we were just scratching our heads. In the end, the trio of Lando Norris, George Russell, and Fernando Alonso proved to be the fastest, while some surprising names were among the eliminated: Charles Leclerc, Logan Sargeant, Yuki Tsunoda, Guanyu Zhou, and Daniel Ricciardo.
The first fast laps of Q3 were similar to the whole qualifying. First Norris pinched the lion's whiskers, then Russell came out with the fastest lap. Meanwhile, the aforementioned lion looked more like a big cat than a predator with his fifth place… For some reason, it didn't look like Red Bull Racing would have a chance to have a say in this race, and it did. George Russell took pole position again, ahead of Lewis Hamilton and Lando Norris, thus completing the coveted British triple podium!
We are looking forward to seeing what tomorrow's British Grand Prix brings!
